Self-management systems are…
“behavioral strategies used to assist students with autism spectrum disorder in monitoring their own behaviors and administering their own rewards.”
Laura J. Hall
This is a personal application of a behavior change tactic that produce a desired change in behaviors.
Student with ASD are able to monitor their own progress with acquiring new skills and decrease problem behaviors with self-management systems. From a young age, self-management strategies are an important part of encouraging independence. It is also an evidence based strategy.
How self-management cards help students with ASD:
Self-management allows students with autism who typically have poorly developed self-management skills to participate in the development and implementation of their own behavior management.
Students are being instructed to:
(a) observe specific aspects of their own behavior
(b) provide an objective recording of the occurrence or non-occurrence of the observed behavior.
The student is in charge of determining if they engaged in a specific behavior. Research shows “the activity of focusing attention on one’s own behavior and the self-recoding of these observations can have a positive relative effect on the behavior being monitored.”
Questions to consider
- What is the target behavior?
- In what settings will the student self-monitor?
- What type of promo (cue) is most appropriate?
- How often will the student self-monitor?
- What external incentive or reward will be given?
There are certain steps that have been outlined that I will share here:
Here are the steps necessary for implementing self-management systems
- Step 1: Identify preferred behavioral targets
- Step 2: Determine how often students will self-manage behaviors
- Step 3: Meet with the student to explain the self-management procedure
- Step 4: Prepare a student self-recording sheet
- Step 5: Model the self-management plan and practice the procedure
- Step 6: Implement the self-management plan
- Step 7: Meet with the student to determine whether goals were attained
- Step 8: Provide the rewards when earned
- Step 9: Incorporate the plan into a school-home collaboration scheme
- Step 10: Fade the intervention
Have you used self-management systems? What are your thoughts?
(source-The Best Practice Guide to Assessment And Intervention For Autism Spectrum Disorder In Schools 2nd edition by Lee A. Wilkinson)