Ease Back-to-School Time | ABA Antecedent & Consequence Interventions

For families with children with autism, navigating back to school period can be particularly challenging, given the transitions and changes in routine. However, utilizing Antecedent and Consequence Interventions can provide significant support in making this transition smoother and more successful for your child.

What are Antecedent Interventions?

Antecedent interventions are strategies that modify the environment before a behavior occurs, with the intention of preventing maladaptive behavior and encouraging positive behavior. Essentially, these interventions aim to set the stage for success by addressing triggers before they happen.

Key Antecedent Intervention Techniques

• Visual Schedules that outline the daily routine help children with autism to understand expectations for their day and anticipate what will happen next, reducing frustration about transitions. Usually symbols, pictures, or even written words, depending on your child’s level of comprehension, can be used as visual reminders on the schedule.
• Providing your child an advance notice about upcoming events or changes to their schedule is helpful.
• Adjust the home environment to have similar aspects of the school setting and practice school-related tasks in a setting that feels familiar and supportive.
• Providing your child with choices, within structured options, allow them to have a sense of engagement and control over their environment and daily routine and result in reducing challenge with transitions.
• Using social stories to illustrate coming changes in their schedule reduces resistance to schedule change.

What are Consequence Interventions?

Consequence interventions focus on how you respond to your child’s behavior to increase desirable behaviors, and decrease any undesirable ones. The consequence strategies are applied after the behavior occurs. Some effective consequence interventions include:

• Provide your child with positive reinforcement; praise, a preferred activity, and a tangible item or setting, which encourages a child to repeat the desired behavior. Ensure to differentiate reinforcers and always reinforce replacement targeted functional behaviors.
• Withhold attention for a negative behavior, and instead, reinforce the positive replacement behaviors. Focusing on positive and replacement functional behaviors, rather than just giving attention to the negative ones will reduce occurrence of the undesired behaviors over time.
• Consistency in your response to different behaviors helps your child to understand the connection between their actions and outcomes.

Changes in daily routines can be difficult and challenging, However Implementing appropriate antecedent and consequence interventions can create a supportive, structured, and motivated environment for your child.