The Importance of Rigidity

In Session 187, Steve Ward joins me to discuss how to help individuals - in particular, individuals with severely limited communicated repertoires - who demonstrate challenging repertoires that are colloquially referred to as Anxiety. 

Given that tortured sentence, you can probably already imagine that in this episode, we discuss how Steve conceptualizes what exactly Anxiety is, especially in populations who cannot verbally report on their private verbal behavior. More importantly, we discuss how he developed what he calls the "calm counts" procedure, and review a case study of this intervention that he recently published. 

Here are the resources we discussed in this podcast:

• Using Differential Reinforcement in the Presence of Stressors to Teach Self-Calming (Ward, 2022).
• Calm Counts data sheet.
• Video of the technique being implemented.
• Whole Child Consulting (Steve's website that has tons of resources). 
• Whole Child Consulting FB Page.
• Good Learner Repertoires FB Group.
• Task As Reinforcer paper.
• Pink Floyd reference.
• Top Shelf Sports Bar and Grille.
• Steve's first appearance on BOP, Session 111.
• Friman, Hayes, and Wilson (1998). Why Behavior Analysts Should Study Emotion: The example of anxiety. 

This session is brought to you with support from:

• Behavior Development Solutions (aka “BDS”) is back to sponsor Behavioral Observations! I know BDS, because their modules were part of my own exam prep strategy when I took the BCBA exam back in 2002. Their modules are so thorough, you’ll feel confident at the Board Exam and, you’ll be well prepared for your career. It's the premier exam-prep and curriculum supplement for BCBA and BCaBA candidates with a 98.5% pass rate for first-time BCBA exam takers… plus a money-back guarantee! They also have solutions for RBT aspirants, plus CE courses and live webinars (most of which are free for anyone to attend). To learn more, head over to "bds.com forward-slash "B O P"  for a special offer! 
• The University of Cincinnati Online. UC Online designed a Master of Education in Behavior Analysis program that is 100% online and asynchronous, meaning you log on when it works for you. Want to learn more? Go to online.uc.edu and click the “request info” button.
• Pick up some CEUs while you listen to Behavioral Observations! Click here to see the various ACE events on topics like Functional Assessment, Trauma-Informed Behavior Analysis, ACT, and much more!