Reinforcement

Data must be taken and monitored in order to determine if the planned intervention is working and when reinforcement can be gradually faded. Fading reinforcement is very important to promote generalization and maintenance of the toddler’s use of the skill or behavior.

Data should be taken on the data sheets developed for the baseline data, unless through the course of intervention it is determined by the team and family that other information will be most useful. By using the same data collection sheets, the team and family can track the toddler’s performance before reinforcement was implemented and after it was implemented. Therefore, the team and family will be better able to see if the toddler shows an increase in using the target skill/behavior after they implemented reinforcement. If not, changes will need to be made to the intervention plan such as using different reinforcers, reinforcing more consistently, saving reinforcers for teaching times only, and so on.

Data on  how frequently Jack requests for snack during snack time by pointing to the food or approximating the food “cracker.”

Data on the length of time Caroline spends in bath before demanding to be taken out.