'Golden time' with ASD children

[dazedandconfused]

DS attends an autism unit attached to a mainstream shcool. They use a system where they reward good behaviour with stickers and if you have enough you get an hour of 'golden time' on a Friday where you get to choose from fun activities. The problem is, DS has been having lots of problems with controlling his anger in the school environment, so he rarely achieves the Friday golden time (even though he has managed lots of positive things over the same period). He now dreads going to school on Fridays because he knows he's going to fail to achieve it. They also have a 'pupil of the week' award which he hasn't won since week 1, when he had just joined (6 months ago). I'm not sure what to do - I understand they want a behaviour system that works for everyone and he struggles really hard to behave, but I'm also worried that he's losing motivation for a system he can never succeed in. Any advice? Anyone else's school use this system? Thanks ...

Yes, my ds2's (asd/adhd) school use this = he attends a speech and language unit attached to a mainstream school. In ds's school they work to each individual IEP with a reward system of bees; ds is aware of his targets (he has to achieve 15 bees a week or something like that, each child's target is different). Ds has golden time on a friday for 15 minutes. He has also had time taken off him for bad behaviour, etc.

Dazed I am not sure what age your ds is? How long has he been at his school?

Ds's school have expectations that he conforms to acceptable behaviour but accommodate his difficulties at the same time.

I wonder are your ds's targets reasonable and achievable? I think talking to the school about him dreading going to school because of his sense of powerlessness/disappointment could be useful and reassure you and possibly enlighten them as to what is achievable for him x

Dazed, if they've set up a system that a child on the autism spectrum cannot ever achieve, then it is automatically 'disability discrimination'. They have to take into account his limits on how he can behave which are caused by the autism. Well worth having a chat with them about how they are doing this scheme for him.

Also, if he's having difficulties with anger in school, I wonder if they need to re-look at how his day is being structured. Does he get enough breaks? Have they assessed the classrooms for autism sensory hazards? Is he able to say what leads him to feeling that angry?

Any good system will leave children some hope of winning. You're right to be concerned.

I can't believe he loses his whole golden time - that's shocking. They should only lose a minute or two.

And this is a school with an autism unit attached? My faith is eroded. Of course he has trouble controlling his anger. That's why he's in a ASD unit.... He should not be losing golden time for that - and certainly not his whole golden time.

Go in next week and discuss it with the SENCO or teachers. This is not right.

my ds attends a mainstream school they use the same idea but with monkeys. originally he had to get five monkeys to recieve the reward. this didnt work as he could never get the five monkeys needed, so lost all interest. it has now been decreassed to 2 monkeys with the instant reward of 10 mins of telly. so he links the good behaviour with the reward. could you not talk to the school, about the problems this is causing him, as any child would loss faith in a system they failed to succeed in, maybe look at some way the reward system could be alter to suit him so that is is attainable for him.

Dd's ms school does golden time, dd2 hasn't stayed all day on a friday yet, i was told to take her home early the first week incase the change in routine upset her. I can see how it could be a good thing for some children 9earning golden time) but for a child with ASD its a waste of time.

Agree with the other ladies, sounds like its the asd that is making this system counterproductive

also v good point by kittyfu about immediate rewards working better

All the primaries in my LEA do golden time, but they do it by every one starts off with the full amount and if they do something worth taking it off them for - then they lose five minutes

The class teacher also has the option at their discretion of letting them earn time back

I would have assumed that with a sticker system like you describe that it would be about promoting positive behaviour, so surely he should still be getting stickers for positive things?

Can you not talk to them about combining both, so each sticker is worth so many minutes and if you get more than... you get the full hour?

As a reward my DS (and everyone in his class) gets to choose what he does in Golden Time, out of a list of 6 or so options.

This is great, because then when golden time comes round it's no longer 'unstructured play' - but something he can look forward to.

(He chooses watching a DVD every week...)

Thanks for all your replies - it's really helpful to hear what other people think. It's made me realise I need to ask exactly how the GT system works at the school. I know that DS had none today but did get a small amount of time last week - altho less than everyone else. The previous couple of weeks he got none though. This is what the teacher wrote in DS' daily diary today:
'(DS) appeared to accept not having enough golden time stickers but when the other children left the class (to go to GT) he tried to run off and was hitting and banging at us to try to move us from the door.' She knows already he feel demotivated about golden time - but wonders why he can't cope when he (once again) fails to achieve it.

Every day I get loads more feedback on negative behaviour than info on anything positive (eg 'He did well in the morning but in the afternoon he tried to hit another child. When a member of staff intervened he kicked and hit and tried to scratch then threatened to throw a sofa at her. Then he tried to run away.' Many more examples of this kind of thing, even on days when he's done really well to participate in something new - despite previous comments about him being unwilling to participate). I know they need to tell us what has happened but I find this list of negative words every day really depressing and it makes me angry. I know aggression is unnacceptable, but does it need to be documented in such detail? I'm genuinely interested in others' experience of this in case I'm missing something. On the 'sofa-throwing' comment, even DS said, 'It was just an angry threat Mum - of course I couldn't throw a sofa at anyone.' I feel as though they must be building a case for exclusion but when I've mentioned this in a meeting they assured me it wasn't the case. The HT is v positive and I find talking to her much easier than with DS' class teacher.

At parent meetings I get the impression that other parents are full of gratitude for the unit because they manage to achieve things with their children that the parents struggle to achieve at home - I wish this was the case with us as well! In ours it seems the opposite because DS' v. rarely lashes out at home with either us, his sister or other children. I am trying really hard to remain positive and constructive but find the teacher is used to being the 'expert' and seems a bit irritated by my questions.

Argh. Sorry about the rant. We fought so hard to get DS into this unit and I was so delighted he got a place but now I feel I have a bit of a battle with the teacher.

DS is 7, btw.

I'd ask if the unit is prepared to work with someone like me who is on the autism spectrum and visits to 'test drive' how the day feels for many of us. Whilst we're all different to some extent, we have a good 'feel' for how children on the autism spectrum will cope with things.

I strongly agree with the others that rewards need to be fairly instant, and that if a pupil is reacting with fear or aggression, it's a sign that something is wrong, not a reason to punish and not think about the underlying problems.

What a great idea on test-driving. I will see if I can broach the subject in our next meeting! Hoping to talk through the issues again with the school this week, and find a way to get DS onto a more positive footing. I agree with the advice here - my challenge is to keep my cool instead of expressing how angry the situation makes me! A bit like DS ... Thanks for all the help on here.

I work in a special setting with primary-aged children who have a range of needs, often including children with ASD.

We have a system of daily Golden Time which the children earn by meeting their behaviour targets and completing work. It is daily because these children find it harder to delay rewards and also need lots of positive reinforcements, as Amber said.

Could you talk to them about a more frequent reward system?

That's a good idea - I'll suggest th daily reward idea. I agree that the reward needs to be pretty immediate with my DS to have much effect.

Which reminds me of something else I found hard to understand: on the last day of term before Christmas, the school had a 'Golden Time Achievement Assembly' which counted up all the time children had and gave a prize to all those who had enough stickers over the term. They tried to help everyone get it, but in the end two children (out of the 24 in the ASD unit) didn't manage to get the Golden Time prize: my DS and one other. I thought this was crazy - why send two ASD kids away with the idea they've failed? Esp when they have already paid the price each week they have failed by not getting the fecking GT activity! When I heard what was planned, I decided to keep DS off school. He'd already had a massive meltdown at home about GT that week, as I explained to his teacher. But since then, I've felt she's been annoyed with my decision not to support the school assembly. DS wasn't particularly well anyway, so I didn't make a big issue out of it (although I did say I thought it was a shame for him to go away for holidays with a bad impression of himself). Now I can see I probably should have discussed my worries properly at that point, because Golden Time seems to have become the bane of our lives.

If she is being "expert" discuss the need for a thickened schedule of reinforcement, sadly using "expert" language at times works with folks like this.. All behavioural psychology demonstrates the need to set young people up for success, not failure...You often find teachers who work in ASD units see themselves as experts, you are teh expert in your child's education. Do they forget all children are individuals with different motivations, needs etc!!

If he's having difficulty meeting a weekly target, why aren't they making it a shorter term to slowly move him into a weekly goal? Perhaps a midweek goal that he can earn, which will give him a boost of confidence to complete the week?

DS2 has daily goals for laptop time at school. He would never manage a weekly goal at this point, however he is younger (4yo in YrR).

my god dazed, i am so saddened by this thread.

the teacher is obviously a complete arsehole.

unfortunately i have found many so called professionals you meet when your kid has autism, are exactly the same.

Yahoo! DS got all his golden time stickers today and is on top of the world! V grateful to support on here, and that school has responded so positively to our request that GT becomes more achievable. happy mum and v happy DS

dazed - so glad they are listening and altering things to fit his needs better!

They need to tailor the reward scheme to something your son can achieve. It's pointless if even the reward scheme is a trauma for him.

Your teacher is in the wrong profession.