Potential benefits of mand programming Motivation for communication Motivation for approaching listeners Condition listeners as reinforcers Can be transferred to other operants Students can learn to respond to echoic and motor models

Targets before/during/after mands Before Calm approach Attention mand Wait for opportunity During Reference listener Wait for prompt Accept prompt Respond to non- intrusive prompt Communicate clearly After Tolerate delay (and remain attentive) Tolerate corrections Learn from corrections Tolerate “no” Repair “dumb” listening

But… “Manding machines” Scrolling Learned helplessness

Goldilocks and the 3 “manders” Manding Too littleJust rightToo much Waits for teachers to approach Spontaneously mands a variety of reinforcers at a good rate Mands at a very high rate Prompt dependent Responds to prompts and corrections Repeats mands multiple times before reinforcement Very low rate Perseveres during errors or confusion Intolerant of prompts or corrections Gives up easilyTolerates delays and “no”Intolerant of delays or “no”

Squeaky wheels Students who mand too frequently, or too repetitiously, or without responsiveness to their teacher pose challenges. Students who never mand spontaneously are a challenge, as well, but that wheel isn’t “squeaky”….yet…

Brief treatment on the “squeak-less wheels” After the first few reinforcer exchanges, sit back and wait for tiny indications that your student wants another reinforcer. These tiny indications are initiations, and you can eventually shape them into attention mands.

More on spontaneity Stay ready to capture opportunities to reinforce spontaneous behaviors, and don’t pummel your student with prompts for better responses. Rhiannon on the way up to the playground

Stacy was doing this…

We changed Stacy’s instruction to this…

How do we treat the “squeaky wheel?” Functional Behavior Assessments (FBA’s) are attempts to determine the functions of behaviors. An FBA should show that the behavior is maintained by tangible gain. This will confuse some analysts and teachers, who will say “but I’m giving him the reinforcers”.

The Inventory of Good Learner Repertoires

“Accessing Tangibles” also requires… -Tolerating delays -Tolerating others being in control of reinforcers (a number of things may challenge a student’s rigid expectations)* -Tolerating prompts -Responding to prompts -Tolerating/fixing others’ confusion

Terry’s quote: “blah, blah, blah”

It comes down to just a few things Most importantly, even from the first day of mand training, never reinforce whiney, pushy mands!!! (*Yes, there are exceptions to everything, including this strong recommendation, but those are few and I don’t want to confuse you with them.)

Broadly… Manding is an opportunity for your learner. Make him prove that he wants to mand. Make him behave well enough to sustain your attention so that he can mand. Mands require “listeners”, so you can use your attention as a reinforcer, and you can withdraw it following unwanted behaviors. This is what we’ve done with Cody.

Have no fear Don’t be afraid to let a mand attempt end in failure. Loosely, teachers sometimes err by taking more responsibility than their student. Remember, your student is supposed to WANT to mand. It’s in HIS interest. If motivation is sufficient, your student will come back to you and try again, and he’ll eventually get it right.

Tantrums can be wonderful! I’m just over-correcting for the typical teacher fear, or shame, of evoking student tantrums. If your student has tantrums every day for 6 months, feel free to be ashamed. But, a well-treated tantrum results in a student learning better patience in manding, self-calming, and decreases in the future rate of problem behavior

Digging Deeper Whiney mands are frequently reinforced simply because the listener doesn’t notice the whining. Frequently, this is because the top priority is vocabulary development. Data is generally gathered on words “used”, prompts required, and mand frequency.

Typical Mand Data DateTarget+/-/p 8/14/12Cookie Music-ppp-ppp+ Uppp++++ Bubbles

More Typical Mand Data DateUpCookieMusic Promp t Level Full phys. ModelInd.Full phys. ModelInd.Full phys. ModelInd. Trial 1+++ Trial 2+++ Trial 3-+-

Teacher Training Those 2 data sheets CAN capture: -rate of each mand -types of prompts required -responsiveness to prompts *Many teachers fail to recognize student non- responsiveness or resistance.

What data would you record? Steve and Terry video/role play….several failed prompts and eventual success

Let’s try that data on this sheet… DateTargetFound listener? (Y/N) +/-/pCalm? (Y/N) Tolerated Delay? (Y/N) Calmly corrected teacher confusion? (Y/N) “cake”Y+YNA French fries YNAYYY

Or, if you prefer…track prompt responsiveness OpportunityFull physicalPartial physical ModelEchoic 1- (Alberta) = responds well - = fails to respond R = resists or protests

Healthy Mand Instruction OK, so you know that tantrums are ok, and that you should gather thorough data on manding. Let’s dive into the teaching. Remember that we should be able to use our attention as a reinforcer. That fact binds all of the following teaching strategies…

Tantrum ABC MO in effect, and listener available (green light) Tantrum Listener becomes unavailable (red light)

The SAME basic ABC has more applications MO in effect and listener available (green light) -reaches past listener to grab reinforcer -slight whine or bossy tone -resists a prompt -say “ooh”, or an equivalent brief “marker” -look away -pull reinforcer a little further away (red light)

Similarly… -Moderate MO in effect -listener available -prompts provided - little to no responsiveness to prompt -listener physically moves away, and maybe says something like “you can try again later”

Inappropriate behaviors end Listener and reinforcer unavailable (red light) Begins to self calm “That’s better. Chip?” (prompt, and green light)

Cody’s first visit manding data

Is this instruction correct? Role plays

The next steps So, your learner is manding at a nice rate, and doing so appropriately. Now, you can follow some mands with: Contextually-relevant demands (describe Will’s “cheese” sequence, as related to dealing with learner responsiveness) “natural” delays “no”

Summary and inspiration As wonderful and critical as mand repertoires are, mands seem to do more harm than good with some students. If correctly identified, manding problems can be remediated. As always, teaching is the solution. You can be the envy of the neighborhood by teaching mands correctly in the first place!