Summer Vacation Tips

Summertime makes me think of vacations, the beach, and time with family. However not all vacations are created equal, and sometimes the thought of doing a huge family vacation is daunting, especially for those living with autism. That shouldn't stop you from taking your family to enjoy these wonderful experiences. Here are some tips for parents of children with autism to make that vacation go a bit smoother.

Safety First. Obviously this will be your first priority. Some ideas including having identification bracelets or tags that include their diagnosis, contact information, etc. Practicing emergency procedures with your child if appropriate is also crucial, such as identifying security or police officers, finding a phone to make phone calls (ensuring they either memorize your cell, or have the information available on their person), etc. It will also be important to specify a location to meet in the event your family gets split up, that your learner will know how to get there, or know who to ask for help in getting their to meet up with you and your family.

Antecedent Manipulations. You've heard me talk about this before and it's so important. This essentially means you are manipulating or changing the antecedent conditions to occasion more appropriate or desirable behavior. Some examples of this are:

• Arranging the environment in such a way that you are helping to diminish your child's need to engage in maladaptive behavior (such as taking a route to your destination that is not through the city during construction and traffic for your noise-sensitive son)
• Having highly preferred items/activities available non-contingently during travel, waiting in line, etc. will be very helpful in maintaining lower levels of challenging behavior.
• Priming, or preparing the learner for the upcoming event with the expectations or "warning" of the event. For example, if you're at Disneyland, you would expect the lines to be long for the rides. You would prime your child before getting to the lines, by preparing them for the likelihood of waiting in line. "The lines will be long at some of the rides today. What are some things we should do when we get there and we don't want to wait?" You can also provide the expectation for your child too, if they struggle to identify alternatives ("The lines will be long today, so if they are, we will be calm and you can play your Nintendo Switch while we wait.")
• Offering choices is so important and an effective antecedent manipulation. This should be embedded throughout your travel and vacation experience to help alleviate stressors for both you and your child.
• Having visual schedules can be a very helpful way to minimize unexpected events for your child, while also increasing excitement about the vacation itself. 
• Special accommodations exist for a reason. Sometimes these will be autism-friendly experiences (movie nights, rides, etc.), wheel-chair ramps, or special needs-specific days. Look these up ahead of time to see what's available. Also consider purchasing special passes at places like amusement parks or events that allow those with special needs exclusive or early access.

Consequence-Based Strategies. These are situational strategies based on the learner's behavior. Remember, consequence doesn't mean "punishment" in this context. It simply means what the outcome was after the behavior occurred, meaning it could be reinforcing or punishing for your kiddo.

• Having a token system in place can be very effective in evoking appropriate behavior from your child. This strategy allows your child to earn tokens that can be exchanged for preferred items or reinforcers later. Your token board may have spaces for 5 tokens, that at which point, when he earns all 5, he gets his most preferred reinforcer. It doesn't matter how many tokens are available to earn, it's up to you and your system. If you are at the amusement park all day, you may consider having your child earn his reinforcers a couple times throughout the day, especially if he struggles with delaying reinforcement for 8+ hours, or struggles to engage in appropriate behavior for such a long stretch of time. You can use this system wherever you are, provided you are able to be consistent, have clear expectations for your learner to follow, and can provide reinforcement upon earning his/her tokens.
• Using different schedules of reinforcement can be helpful in both increasing appropriate behavior, and decreasing the challenging behaviors. For example, you may be providing reinforcement on the non-occurrence of a problem behavior, such as providing praise (if that's an effective reinforcer for your kiddo) after he/she did not tantrum while standing in line at the snack stand. You may also provide reinforcement contingent upon your child engaging in an alternative behavior, such as one of the examples above where the learner uses the Nintendo Switch while waiting in line instead of crying and yelling.
• Behavior contracts can be effective when the expectations are clear and consistent. This is a contract or written agreement between the child and parent (or other adult such as a teacher), that clearly outlines the expected behaviors and what reward or penalty will be issued when the behavior is (or isn't) demonstrated by the child. This works best with children who are older, understand the importance of contracts or agreements, and have some ability to self-monitor.

Think about the function. Always consider the function of the behavior when working to change your child's behavior. It does no good to employ a "planned ignoring" strategy for the behavior that wants to be ignored.

ABA at Play: antecedent manipulations, priming, environmental modifications, function-based interventions, consequence-based strategies, behavior contracts, schedules of reinforcement, evidence-based practices, socially significant behavior, token systems, pairing reinforcers, individualized supports, visual supports