Positive Reinforcement
Some individuals respond best to positive reactions and positive rewards to different scenarios and goals.
• One form of positive reinforcement, as well as positive punishment, is utilizing a token economy. For example, if an individual is working towards developing better hygiene and is highly motivated by monetary rewards. As the therapist, you could create a system with three jars. One jar contains $20 in quarters and the other two are empty. Each time the individual completes a hygienic task, they would get a quarter in their jar. However, anytime they missed a task, a quarter would be taken out of the jar and placed in the other empty jar. By time the quarters are out in the main jar, the tasks will become habits, and then the individual will have also received a positive reward for completing these tasks.
• Sometimes, an individual may behave in a way that is “not acceptable” by societal norms. It is not our job to make an individual conform to norms, but to help adapt their surroundings in a way that works for them. For example, say an individual likes the sound of water bottles crunching but they keep squeezing full bottles of water. A simple solution for this is to let them squeeze empty bottles. This way they still hear the sound, but do not make a mess.