Georgia PBS Interventions - Florida's Positive Behavior Support ...

1 1 1 1If the function is to “access preferred sensory input”:The team first needs to determine the preferred sensory input and the best person to assist with thisis the occupational therapist.Typically, students who need access to sensory input are those with special needs. However, we allhave stereotypy behaviors that are calming to us. Some people chew their nails. Some twirl their hair.It’s important to understand that this is a need, not a want in some cases and if the team doesn’tprovide for this need, it can create behavioral outbursts. If it’s a need please read the section onsensory input further along in this book. If it’s just a preferred reinforcer then here are some ideas:There are two ways a student could earn preferred sensory input if it’s just a “want” item for thechild.Schedule:You can put it into the child’s visual schedule sandwiched between hard activities. This gives the childan incentive to do the work if the reward of the work is time to sit and play with a cheerleader pompom or twirl a chain for a few minutes.Token EconomyThe child has to earn so many tokens per period of time to earn sensory time. For example, if youwere using pot holder loop bracelets as your token and every time you caught them workingappropriately you gave them one of those to slip on their arm. The student would then be able to trade5 of those in for 5 minutes in the ball pit or 5 minutes swinging on the swing.5=Positive Interventions and Effective Strategies Riffel -© 2005 - 51 -