Megan McDonald

November 30th, 2017

Week 6 Assignment

Token Economy System Creation for a Student with ASD

Positive behavior support can be defined as a set of processes that can be used to support

children and adults with autism who engage in problem behaviors (Association for Positive

Behavior Support, 2014). After the problem behavior has been identified and defined, a positive

behavior support plan is put into place. There are many evidence based practices that support

positive behavior support plans. A token economy system is a great strategy to use to reduce

problem behavior. Token economies support PBS because it reinforces the expected behavior by

giving students tokens or points. Token economies help students to visualize progress, accept

and work for delayed reinforcement, learn to self-monitor, and learn to regulate behavior

(Vanderbilt Kennedy Center, 2015).

Token Economy charts are already implemented into my classroom. I have developed

personalized token economy charts depending on the students interests. Personalized token

economy charts have increased the students motivation to receive tokens. The term token

suggests something physical that you can hold in your hand (Codgrave, C., 2017). For my

students, I have printed and laminated pictures of things they like. Velcro is used to give and

remove tokens. Students work towards receiving five tokens before receiving the back-up

reinforcer. Depending on the student, the token amount expected to receive can be increased or

decreased. Once all tokens are received, a back-up reinforcer is given. The board is cleared after

the student has received the chosen reward.

 The student should know what he or she is working towards before receiving tokens. A

choice board of about five items is given to the student. They are able to choose what reward

they would like. A study was conducted by Koegel, L. R., Dyer, K., and Bell K. L. on the

influence of child-preferred activities and choice. A child is more motivated to succeed and

engaged in expected behavior when given choices. Teacher should pick a variety of rewards for

students to choose from that can be given immediately. Immediate reinforcement is necessary in

order for token economy to have a positive impact on student behavior. Especially, for students

with moderate/severe autism. The token economy chart should be easily accessible for students.

They should be displayed visually on the students own desk.

Tokens are not typically ever taken away. Its important that children are aware of the

rules before any tokens are taken away. This is known as response cost. Additionally, a

response cost should never be used if a child does not already have tokens. Never put a child in

token debt (Cooper et al. 2007). The goal is to continually reinforce and focus on the positive

behavior and not the negative behavior. If the child is engaging in negative behavior, they will

notice that it is taking them a long time to receive their reward.

 References

Association of Positive Behavior Support. (2014). Brief Description of PBS Related to Autism

Spectrum Disorder. Retrieved from http://www.apbs.org/new_apbs/autismDesc.aspx

Cooper, J., Heron, T., & Heward, W. (2007). Applied Behaviour Analysis. New Jersey: Pearson

Education.

Cosgrave, G. (2017). Token Economy. Educate Autism. Retrieved from

http://www.educateautism.com/token-economy.html

Koegel, L. R., Dyer, K., and Bell K. L. (1987). The Influence of Child-Preferred Activities on

Autistic Childrens Social Behavior. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis. Pg. 248

Vanderbilt Kennedy Center. (2014). Token Economy. Retrieved from

https://vkc.mc.vanderbilt.edu/assets/files/tipsheets/tokeneconomytips.pdf