Close ended Queen

I'm excited today to have gotten some good feedback from the last clinic. One objective was to make the work tasks as close-ended as possible, so that C could easily see how much work was to be done to get the reinforcement. Apparently I am the close-ended queen! In any task, I only keep a certain number of items in front of me, and when they are cleared from the table, he has finished. For example, I have 6 crayons, and he puts each in a bucket when he has used it to draw the line or circle that I have asked. No more crayons, and he gets a song, or a chip, or a tickle. If he is naming pictures then I have 4 cards on the floor in front of him and as he hands me each one he names it. When there are no cards left, he gets whatever we have decided on. Puzzles are naturally close-ended, and so are books. C's mum just found a wiggles themed token chart, with 5 velcroed on characters. So for tasks with no tangible finish, each action would be rewarded a character, and when it was full, he is done. The supervisor wants to film some of the next clinic to use in training others. I find that feedback essential to my sense of success. We are adding more pictures to the program to help him understand what is happening, so I am going to be looking for a picture that represents tickles, and other non-tangible reinforcers, to have handy when he is working so he can rememer what he gets, and to help him communicate what he wants. His language is growing steadily, so we are not doing a pecs (picture exchange) program as such, but we all use visuals to help us with scheduling and memory. Catalogues, calendars, instruction manuals. These will act as his how to guide while he is working on his speaking skills. I am impressed that he is using Yes and No, in context now. The echolalia is slowly fading and being replaced by functional language.