The learner asks for a break every few minutes

The situation

The learner was recently taught to ask for a break instead of protesting, and it has worked: protests are down. But now they ask for a break constantly, and very little work is getting done. You are wondering whether to start refusing some requests.

What the plan usually asks for

1. Honor the break request every time the plan says to. Early in functional communication training that is usually every time. The new request works only because it is reliable. Refusing it before the plan says to teaches the learner that asking does not work, and the old behavior comes back.
2. Deliver the break exactly as specified — its length, what is available during it, and how it ends. A break that drifts longer or richer than written changes the contingency.
3. Record every request and every break, with the timing the plan asks for. A high rate of requests is expected at this stage. The data are what tell the supervisor when to begin thinning.
4. Tell the supervisor what you are seeing, and ask whether the plan is ready for the next step. Adding delays, a limited number of break cards, or a work requirement before a break are all later steps of the same procedure, and they are the analyst's call.

What not to do

• Do not start refusing or delaying requests on your own initiative.
• Do not remove the break card because it is being "overused."
• Do not treat the high rate as the program failing; it is the program working.

When to tell your supervisor

• Bring the data to your supervisor promptly so thinning can be planned; sooner if the learner is missing most of the session.

Terms used here

• Functional Communication Training
• Mand
• Schedule Thinning
• Resurgence
• Differential Reinforcement of Low Rates