Art vs. Autism: The Rewards Program.

I work as an in home care and habilitation service staff worker for a school that educates only the mentally ill. My client is my youngest sibling, a 15 year old boy with a lot of energy. Yesterday I asked my little brother to rinse off his dish after having used it for a hotdog he just finished which had been smothered in ketchup. He was having an awful day, not cooperaing, neglecting tasks, not reaching communication goals. This fask I had provided had resorted to him throwing a crying fit.

Knowledgeable of the fact it was my responsibility to protect him and myself from any frustrated violent action that he may conduct I had to act quickly. Rather restraining him (which is a commonly used physical control system of guarding yourself and others by holding down specific limbs from flailing about), I looked into his eyes and said (For confidentiality purposes we'll say his name is Kevin.) "Kevin, I need you to calm down. I want to draw with you today, but I can't in till you calm down." His crying fit became more of a sob and he looked around as if searching for the right answer; unaware of what we were intending on drawing with considering he didn't have any supply. Kevin can't talk, but Kevin is smart. He can tell when he's being lied to, and he can tell when he is not. Luckily, he trusted my words even without the visual proof of this activity. If he hadn't had faith in my telling the truth, this could have become a very dangerous situation.

I kept the art supply closely in my purse. It was quite the treat; a 54 count of crayola crayons with the sharpener on the back of the box. Without showing him this, I directed him again "Kevin, if you rinse off your plate, you and I will draw pictures." This showed to be a better approach than the original order of just "Okay, now rinse off your plate," because he actually did it this time. Once he finished the rinse I showed him the crayola as if it were a drug, slipping the box half way out my purse saying "Now are you going to continue to be good?" Kevin signed the 'good' sign of sign language, and I pulled the box out completely. He and I had drawn for at least a good hour, with my help he managed to draw a boat on an ocean with a sun behind it.

This mechanism is used commonly and is called the reward program. The general concept of this program is to give your client a specific task or goal with a reward offering after completion. The repetition of this program familiarizes clients with their everyday tasks, making it easier for them to complete these tasks independently in the near future. It is clearly very effective, because after Kevin and I had completed our drawings we framed his and hung it on the wall. He seemed please for the rest of the afternoon, with about an 80% decrease in violent related activity.