Weekly Update August 18, 2023
Strive Center for Autism
No therapy next Friday, August 25th
Just a friendly reminder that next week will be a short week, with no therapy on Friday. Our staff will have a Professional Development day off site. Therapy will resume on Monday, August 28th.
Autism Alliance of Michigan 2023 Hero Walk
The Autism Alliance of Michigan (AAoM) will be hosting their annual Hero Walk at the Detroit Zoo on September 23rd. Strive Center for Autism is please to sponsor the event and we'll have a team of walkers again as well. If you plan to attend the walk, please join our team using this link.
The AAoM provides resources, advocacy, and key information about autism to families and individuals affected by autism, to the general population, and to those who are in the position to affect positive change. As an organization helping people with Autism, we support their work in the community through fundraisers like this one. This walk brings together nearly 5,000 people at the zoo - people diagnosed with Autism and those who love and support them. It's a fun, family friendly day to enjoy the zoo with people who understand what it's like to live with Autism.
Our organization will also have a free four pack of tickets to raffle off for the Zoo walk - stay tuned for info and you can enter the raffle and enjoy the zoo and parking for free on September 23rd.
U of M Flint Inclusive Halloween - save the date!
Please save the date for Inclusive Halloween 2023 on Friday, October 27, 2023 in the early evening (final time to be determined) at the University of Michigan-Flint!
This is a very fun event for all families - there's trick or treating, sensory activities, food, and so much more! We have hosted a table at this event each year and it is definitely one you don't want to miss. We will pass along more info as we receive it, but definitely mark your calendars for now.
ABA Term of the Week
One addition to our newsletter this year will be some definitions of terms we use most often in ABA. We know we use a lot of lingo and we want to help families understand it better. All of these terms will also be on our website in a glossary, so you can check them out anytime.
This week's term is shaping.
The technical definition of shaping is reinforcing successive approximations toward a terminal behavior. But what does that mean?
Sometimes the terminal behavior (the thing you want to teach someone) is a big thing, or very effortful for that person and you know that they won't be able to fully do it right away. In that case, you might use shaping to get from where they are to where you want to be.
In shaping, we'll start by providing reinforcement for an approximation that is not very similar to what we want. Then when that response is strong, we'll require a little more effort and only reinforce that response, then more and more until we're seeing that final behavior.
A good example with a child might happen with shaping up a word - maybe we have a child who likes bananas, but he can't say "banana." He can say "ba." So at first, we'd reinforce saying "ba" by giving a piece or a bite of a banana. We'd reinforce that until the response is strong and consistent; he's only saying "ba" when he wants a banana and we're giving it every time. Then we might add the first "na" - and start requiring "ba-na" for a bite. We would no longer give a bite when we hear just "ba." And eventually we'd require the full word and not provide a bite for anything less.
One of our favorite PD Day activities is to try to use shaping to shape up a behavior in another staff member when the staff member doesn't know what behavior we're targeting. What that looks like is we give a slip of paper to Katie that reads "jump on one foot" and she is paired with another person, let's say Erin, who doesn't see the paper. Katie might use praise or her facial expressions to let Erin know when she's doing something Katie likes. So Erin might begin just sitting in a chair, and Katie just waits. Erin might stand up, looking to Katie for feedback. When Katie smiles or says "that's good" Erin knows she's on the right track. Because Erin is in on the game, she knows she may have to move in a different way to get to the goal. Katie would be sure to provide more praise when Erin picks one foot off the ground, until maybe Erin has caught on and is standing on one foot. Then Katie will wait, without providing more praise until Erin lifts her other heel off the ground, and then Katie will give enthusiastic praise, like "That's amazing!" until Erin finally jumps and Katie tells her "You got it!" It's a pretty funny activity to watch, but really helps us all to pinpoint how to use our most readily available reinforcers, praise and smiles, to help shape behavior.
Vacations and other time off
We'll just keep this link right here, for your convenience. For any absences scheduled in advance, please use this form to report the dates. You may take an entire day or half day, depending on your needs.
Here are some additional dates that the centers will be closed:
Friday, August 25th - Professional Development Day
Monday, September 4th - Labor Day
If your family is planning a longer absence around one of those dates, or at another time, please let us know as soon as you are able!
About Us
Email: info@sc-centers.com
Website: www.sc-centers.com
Location: Burton and Brighton, MI
Phone: 810-344-8082