Professionalism Adapted from Phillips, Phillips, Fixsen & Wolf (1974)

What is professionalism?  Skills in giving and receiving positive and corrective feedback. It is a pattern of interacting

Characteristics of Professionalism  Enthusiastic about program  Positive attitude about students  Support the program  Concern for the right of students and families  Prompt and prepared  Advocate for students and families  Request input from others  Share credit with others  Provide positive and corrective feedback

ABA principles  Positive praise –positive feedback  Functions as a reward  Praise is paired with other conditioned reinforcers and functions as a conditioned reinforcer in everyone  We teach the children to value this because it is important to almost everyone  We may have learned to engage in dysfunctional responses possibly as a function of our society  We need to learn to acknowledge praise  We need to learn to report our performance to others and manipulate your own reinforcement schedule

ABA principles  Criticism  Functions as a punisher  paired with other punishing stimuli  Punishers  Decrease behavioral receptivity  are no longer open to suggestion  Leads to escape or avoidance behavior  don’t want trainees to avoid trainers and vice versa  Typically sets the occasion for emotional responses paired with physiological ones  Anything associated with a punisher becomes a conditioned punisher  whenever you see that person you associate them with punishment

ABA principles  Corrective feedback  Defines problem and solution  Functions as a negative reinforcer  taking something aversive away to increase an appropriate behavior  Offers of assistance typically help you escape a punishing situation  Only function when positive praise is used at a higher rate

ABA principles  Receiving positive and corrective feedback  effects that manner and frequency that feedback is given  we want to foster settings that emphasize training  Giving and receiving feedback are skills that we are constantly learning and practicing with each other.

What is the importance of professionalism?  It gives everyone a predictable and efficient way of interacting with one another  this prevents encountering unpredictable work situations  using professional skills makes work situation more predictable  Feedback helps to develop new skills and refine existing skills  both corrective and positive

What is the importance of professionalism?  Feedback helps to change maladaptive behavior by giving you new technology that leads to the development of new skills  E.g., during a school visit, your colleagues can help you change you facial expression or the way in which your are interacting with the child to appear most caring  these small responses have a large impact  Don’t punish feedback givers’ behavior  “it was nothing” -you’ll get less feedback  Have to maintain a positive work environment to help deal with sometimes very challenging behavior  it is not functional to complain but to concentrate on problem solving behavior - positive and corrective feedback

What is the importance of professionalism?  Behaving professionally enhances the credibility of the Bernards Township Science Based Intervention Program for Children with Autism.  We are viewed by not only the progress of our students –but how we interact with them and each other.

Setting Variables  Environmental variables  Privacy  Comfort  Good for corrective feedback  Positive feedback may be done publically but not when someone may be uncomfortable with that type of attention

Setting Variables  Non-verbal behavior  body posture  voice tone  eye contact  head nodding  physical proximity  facial expression

Feedback  Who gives feedback?  everyone  What to we give feedback about?  everything  It someone is not receiving our feedback well –shift feedback to their receiving feedback skills  put away your agenda and shift the conversation to how they are receiving you feedback –don’t delay this, point it out immediately

Feedback  Key assumptions  honest and genuine  it is used for skill building and problem solving  it is multidirectional  Give feedback to everyone  all topics are included –from sharing the computer to doing daily jobs to individual sessions with the children with whom you work with

Giving and Receiving Feedback  Counseling components  Privacy  For corrective feedback and for positive feedback based on personality  Comfort  Relational components  Non-verbal  body posture, voice tone, eye contact head nodding  Verbal  Attend, be descriptive, be empathetic, care

Giving and Receiving Feedback  When delivering positive feedback  it is important to use behavior specific praise  be genuine  use learner based rationales  maintain a heavy schedule of praise  Sometimes people are not always used to responding appropriate to positive feedback or even used to hearing it.  Receiving positive feedback involves acknowledging a person’s compliment and by responding to it  The more reinforcing we are with receiving feedback, the more likely it is that we will receive it in the future.

Giving and Receiving Feedback  When receiving positive feedback  Danny has been so happy and friendly –wow!  express appreciation for the feedback  Thank you for the taking the time to tell me that  share credit  “all of the instructors have very consistently reinforced Danny’s appropriate behavior”  pass feedback along to the child’s intervention team  reinforce the feedback giver’s behavior  facial expression  “It really makes me feel good that you have noticed Danny’s recent behavior change and that you have told me about this noticeable change. I really appreciate that”

Giving and Receiving Feedback  When receiving corrective feedback  Listen  request clarification when necessary  ask for suggestions  express concern for problem and appreciation of feedback  Don’t punish the feedback giver  arrange for follow up

Giving and Receiving Feedback  When giving positive feedback  praise and describe the behavior  use a learner based rationale  When giving corrective feedback  Instructing  not personal  use the teaching interactions

Teaching Interactions  Feedback is used for skill building and problem solving  4:1 ratio of corrective feedback to positive feedback

Teaching Interactions  Make an initial praise or empathy statement  Describe or demonstrate the ineffective behavior  Provide a learner-based rationale for change  Describe or demonstrate the effective behavior  Provide a learner-based rationale for the new behavior  Request acknowledgement  Provide an opportunity for the feedback receiver to practice the new behavior  Provide feedback with regard to practice  Express you continuing support and interact  Make a statement of appreciation

Teaching Interactions  “This may make him more independent, especially when he begins to eat and every time he puts down his fork he will be more likely to pick it up again and resume eating”  this should occur throughout the interaction  “Am I saying that in a way that makes sense?”

Teaching Interactions  At next home visit  “How is that prompting strategy working for you – did you find it helpful?”  “Your doing that prompting strategy well –I think that Andrew will really benefit from it”