A learner pushes the materials away when you present a task

The situation

You present a task the learner has done before. They push the materials across the table, turn away, and do not respond to the instruction. Nobody is at risk of harm and nothing has been damaged. You have a written program for this learner and this task.

What the plan usually asks for

1. Keep your own voice, face, and movements calm and ordinary. Your reaction is part of the situation. A large response can become the outcome that maintains the behavior.
2. Check what the learner's written program says to do at this point, and do that. The program was written by the supervising analyst with knowledge of this learner's assessment. Consistency across staff is most of what makes it work.
3. Notice what happened immediately before and immediately after, and write it down while it is fresh. Antecedent and consequence information is what your supervisor needs to tell whether the program still fits.
4. Carry on with the session as your program directs, rather than improvising a new consequence. Changing the plan mid-session makes the data uninterpretable and is outside a technician's scope.

What not to do

• Do not invent a new consequence, reward, or removal that is not written into the program, however reasonable it seems in the moment.
• Do not decide on your own that the task is too hard and drop it, which may accidentally reinforce pushing the materials away.
• Do not interpret what the behavior means and change the program accordingly. Assessment and program design belong to the supervising analyst.

When to tell your supervisor

• Tell your supervisor the same day if this is new, if it is getting more frequent, or if the program does not appear to cover what happened.
• Contact your supervisor before the next session if you are not confident you know what the program asks you to do here.

Terms used here

• Negative Reinforcement
• Extinction
• Motivating Operation