When working with students with moderate to severe disabilities, relationships and a student’s motivation are central to academic success.
In Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA), relationship building is also called pairing. Pairing is the process of establishing yourself as a reinforcer to build a positive relationship with a child. When a teacher or paraprofessional is properly paired with a student, the student should look forward to working with the adult. It is possible to pair people, environments, and objects.
This relationship is created by stimulus, stimulus pairing. This couples the child’s already existing reinforcers with desired people, objects, or environments. For example, if the paraprofessional is trying to establish a relationship with a student and this student loves gummy bears and swinging on the swing, the paraprofessional should deliver individual gummy bears to the student and push the student on the swing. Over time, the already reinforcing stimuli of the gummy bears and swing will be paired with the paraprofessional. When the child sees the para, they should think, good things are coming! The best way to know if a student and adult are paired, is if the student is spontaneously approaching and initiating interactions with the adult.
It is important to build this foundational relationship with a student before placing too many demands in the classroom. Once a student and teacher have built a relationship, the student will be much more likely to perform difficult tasks and follow through on demands in the classroom. Pairing and relationship building is an ongoing process and should be built daily when working with students.
The same pairing process can be done with the learning environment. The goal is to make learning environments fun and engaging and to make students willing and active learners. To pair the learning environment, the teacher can introduce the student’s favorite items, foods, and toys to the space. By introducing these items into the area, the student begins to learn that the learning environment is fun. Then the adult can ease in demands by having the student gradually engage in work that increases in difficulty and effort over time.
If a child is engaging in a lot of maladaptive behavior in a learning environment, that tells the adult that the learning environment or adult present in the learning environment is not reinforcing, and that pairing and relationship building should occur before continuing to place demands on the child.
Motivation is the why behind our actions. We eat because we are motivated by hunger. We turn on the air conditioning when we are motivated to regulate our temperature. We put on our sneakers when we are motivated to go outside for a walk. Understanding a student’s motivation is key to helping them achieve difficult tasks. Once an adult knows what a student is motivated, they can use that motivation as reinforcement for accomplishing tasks. For example, if a student loves to go outside on the playground, the educator could create a visual aid with a picture of the playground. Before telling the student to engage in their class work, the teacher could show the visual of the playground and make it clear that after completing their classwork the student will be allowed to play on the playground. This will motivate the child to perform the work and be engaged in the learning activity. By harnessing a student’s motivation, we reduce the likelihood that the student will engage in maladaptive behaviors and we increase their desire to learn.
Motivation is elusive and changes constantly. Therefore, motivation must be assessed and considered regularly. One moment a child might be interested in Elmo videos while the next moment they may want to switch and watch something else. The best way to discover what a child is motivated by is to ask them or watch what they do when no demands are placed on them. Are they gravitating towards a certain toy? Do they spend time alone or with certain people? Understanding what the student does in their free time will usually give the teacher clues to what motivates them.
If a student’s motivation is not clear, the adult can show them a few options to choose from or bring out different activities, objects, or games the student may be interested in. It is also possible to do a more formal preference assessment.
Establishing a relationship with a student and regularly assessing their motivation are two important keys to creating an enriching and enjoyable learning environment.
Contributor Bio
Shea Kytomaa has her Master’s in Education from the University of Texas at Austin, specializing in Autism and Developmental Disabilities. She is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst and has worked in K-12 schools, clinics, and community mental health centers. Shea currently serves as a Classroom Consultant at TeachTown and is passionate about bringing their K-12 adapted core curriculum into special education classrooms