Category: Blogs-Parenting

Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA)

Do you have a child in your class who seems to listen but does not follow instructions? And is always on the move?
Are you confused why are some of the students not behaving the way they should?
Does your child throw tantrums and you do not know how to handle it?
Is your child unable to make friends?
These are all behaviors and any behavior can be changed or modified. The entire science of understanding and modifying the behavior is called Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA), popularly also known as ABA therapy. It is the most scientifically driven procedure for behavior modification. Here are some tips to understand and help modification of behaviors.

Do you have a child in your class who seems to listen but does not follow instructions? And is always on the move?

Are you confused why are some of the students not behaving the way they should?

Does your child throw tantrums and you do not know how to handle it?

Is your child unable to make friends?

These are all behaviors and any behavior can be changed or modified. The entire science of understanding and modifying the behavior is called Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA), popularly also known as ABA therapy. It is the most scientifically driven procedure for behavior modification. Here are some tips to understand and help modification of behaviors.

So, let us understand what is the ABC of ABA?

  • A stands for Antecedent. When any behavior occurs there is a situation that precedes the behavior which is called Antecedent (what happens before, what triggers the behavior). Antecedent is very important to understand if we are looking at modifying the behavior of a child / adult / autistic child / non-autistic child.
  • B stands for Behavior that occurs after antecedent.
  • C stands for consequences. Consequence is what happens after the behavior occurs. Consequences can also be classified into reinforcement and punishment. If we want to change or modify the behavior then it is of utmost importance to understand the concept of reinforcement and punishment.

Reinforcement is used to increase the occurrence of a wanted behavior. There are two types of reinforcement – Positive & Negative.

Punishment is used to decrease the occurrence of an unwanted behavior. Punishments, traditionally are considered not to be used unless very necessary as it leaves a scar on the psyche of a child. And there are two types of punishments – Positive & Negative

If you learn to use reinforcements and punishments, then you are able to modify anyone’s behavior. So for all those parents, teachers and caregivers who want to induct good, desirable and socially acceptable behavior in the children, they must understand the science of using reinforcements and punishments

Let us understand the types of reinforcements and punishment:-

Positive punishment – Positive punishment means adding something that the child does not like in the schedule after the occurrence of an unwanted behavior. E.g. Max a student who gets poor results so every time when max brings home a poor result the mother will ask him to wash the dishes after dinner. So she added something that Max does not like? So to avoid this Max will start getting better grades. And thus he decreases the behavior of bringing poor grades. This is called positive punishment.

Negative punishment – Negative Punishment is taking away something the child likes to decrease an unwanted behavior. E.g. a child if misbehaves in class then the teacher will deny a PE period for him. So if the child does not want to miss the PE period then he will make sure that he behaves well in class. Thus the undesired behavior in class is reduced. This is negative punishment.

Positive Reinforcement – To increase a wanted behavior by adding something that the child likes is called a positive reinforcement. E.g. If a child displays a good behavior such as greeting guests or talking nicely with others, and the parent gives a favorite eatable or visit his favorite place or extra play time. So this will make the child continue the wanted behavior in future. This is positive reinforcement.

Negative reinforcement – Negative reinforcement is to take away something the child dislike to increase wanted behavior E.g. Teacher gives a task to Roby to be completed in 5 minutes and if he does so she will not send him for swimming as Roby dislikes swimming. So to avoid the swimming Roby finished the task in 5 minutes. This is negative reinforcement

Try using the reinforcements and punishments with the children and you will be able to achieve amazing results. The important thing is that you need to be consistent with your implementation to obtain the desired results.

Behavior Modification using Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA)

An ABA practitioner observes behavior in the natural environment (classroom, home, public places etc.), to identify why the behavior occurs (known as antecedent) and what happens after the behavior (known as consequence). They also analyze what are the environmental factors that are responsible for a behavior to occur OR prevent certain behaviors from occurring. A consequence is the result that happens after the behavior. If the behavior is a desired behavior a reinforcer is introduced as a consequence for the behavior to reoccur. The key for effective intervention is to identify problem behaviors which need to be changed and which reinforers are acting for reoccurrence of behavior.

An ABA practitioner observes behavior in the natural environment (classroom, home, public places etc.), to identify why the behavior occurs (known as antecedent) and what happens after the behavior (known as consequence). They also analyze what are the environmental factors that are responsible for a behavior to occur OR prevent certain behaviors from occurring. A consequence is the result that happens after the behavior. If the behavior is a desired behavior a reinforcer is introduced as a consequence for the behavior to reoccur. The key for effective intervention is to identify problem behaviors which need to be changed and which reinforers are acting for re occurrence of behavior.

The three strategies to deal with socially inappropriate behavior are :-

  1. Positive Reinforcement should not be provided on the occurrence of unwanted behaviour. Think of a situation: whenever a child throws tantrums the caregiver turns the TV on. In this case the consequence of a bad behaviour is reinforced (TV Viewing). When the behaviour analyst observes this behaviour they clearly guide the caregiver to stop reinforcing the behavior. Due to this wrong reinforcement the behavior of the child is likely to become worse in tantrum throwing which becomes of longer duration. We need to teach the child how to request TV time in an appropriate way instead of throwing tantrum.
  2. Appropriate Behavior should be reinforced.

There is a need to increase intensity and duration of reinforcement for appropriate behavior. In above example there is a need that child should be made aware of inappropriate behavior and the child will get reinforcement only if the child behaves appropriately. In this case, the behavior analyst may teach the child to request for TV time by using the terminology “TV please?” if the child can vocalize that statement. The behavior analyst would then train caregivers to only turn the television on when the child says “TV please” and not when the child throws tantrums.

Using these first two strategies in a combination may serve to eliminate the increase in the problem behavior.

  1. Introduce something that a child dislikes to reduce the Unwanted behavior. When the behavior is extremely severe, where individual is harming themselves or others, unpleasant consequence (Positive Punishment) can be introduced. Instead of providing the reinforcer, the behavior analyst may train caregivers to present a consequence the individual does not like, at all. The term behavior analyst’s use for this strategy is punishment. Say, for instance, in the example described above, the child’s tantrum behavior usually results in him forcefully hitting his body against objects in the environment, resulting in bruises and cuts. In such a case, any instance of the behavior could lead to the child severely harming himself. As an intervention, the behavior analyst may recommend a punishment procedure where, if the child doesn’t like being sent to the time-out corner, it is recommended that whenever he throws a tantrum he is taken to the time-out corner until he is quiet and calm for a designated period of

A combination of all three strategies may be used in this case for effective behavior management.

REBOOT YOUR HAPPINESS

We are in the middle of tremendous stress and the COVID-19 situation has visibly changed our lives. Yet, there are cases of positivity, success and recovery blooming all around us. As the Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates and Ruler of Dubai Sheikh Mohammed proclaimed that ‘we will win’ in a tweet this morning, Dr. Alka Kalra also came up with a toolkit to reboot. Here’s a list of simple to-dos that will help you relax and rejoice this time with yourself as the world, and its people, heal towards victory.

  1. Deep Breathing Exercises

Yes, we now have the time to pamper ourselves. This does not always mean going to a spa or booking a vacation- it can be something as simple as a deep breathing exercise with a little bit of meditation for 10-15 minutes daily, to create and absorb the positive energy around us. Come, let us greet every new day with a few fresh breaths!

  1. An Attitude of Gratitude

Most of us are fighting our own battles as our front-liners work around the clock to protect us. Expressing gratitude for what you have and for what others are doing for you is an ingenious self care remedy! Saying thank-you is an empowering gesture, which makes you and the other person happy at the same time! That’s two smiles for one deal.

  1. Think Long-Term

While the future is still cloudy with doubts and question-marks, this time with family is good enough to chalk-out a long-term vision for yourself. Think of the positive self you will be in the next decade, and the wonders that your actions will create around the world as the universe does its fair share and rolls all the good vibes towards you- starting today, until…forever?

  1. Internalize Positivity

Mental strength is our modern strategy! If one remains mentally strong and positive about their approach to incoming problems, then they have their own little army to battle personal, or even global catastrophes. Reminding ourselves of the good things that have happened to us in the past and using this inventory to reflect them on our present and future can be an amazing pass-time!

  1. Get Connected- virtually, for now ?

Yes, we are isolated but only physically. We still have an opportunity to remain emotionally and mentally invested in ourselves and our relationships. Getting connected is just a phone-call or text message away but can help build your confidence and mental stamina! Call the right person, start with a gush of joy and it will be your best virtual coffee date!

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3 Tips on How to Improve Your Child’s Memory

Memory plays an extremely important role in our daily lives. It helps us retrieve and organize information in our brains. It is very important to work on improving and enhancing the memory of young kids. It is during this time that kids pick up and learn things faster. Using the right techniques and tricks to improve their memory goes a long way in helping them recall information later on in life.

There are two components of memory. They are observation and visualization. There are innovative approaches to help improve these two components of memory:

Improve Kids’ Observation Skills

1. Memory drawings
It is a very powerful technique which enhances the observation skills of kids. For example, we see a wristwatch probably 20-30 times a day. But when you ask your child to draw the dial of his wristwatch, he may struggle to draw the same immediately. That’s the time when you give them a chance to look at the watch again and redo it. Another example is to tell your kids to draw their bedroom or kitchen. It will be fun to compare their drawing with the actual room and notice which ones they have missed out. In such cases, they observe keenly as they know it is followed by a test.
2. Spot the difference
A very common but effective game to improve concentration is to the spot the differences. Present two similar pictures to your kids with minor differences and ask them to highlight those differences in a given time limit. Another idea: put a lot of clocks in one room at the same time and keep one clock at a different time. Tell your kids to identify the clock with a different time.

Improve Kids’ Visualization Skills

3. How you see things
Remembering the basic numbers can be hard for young kids in the beginning. You can pair up every number with an object. For example, number one looks like a pen, two looks like a duck, three an eyeglass, four a boat, and five a star. At first, write down numbers one to five on a piece of paper and ask your kids to recall. They may or may not be able to recall every number. Then, draw these objects next to every number and tell them to visualize the same. Ask them to recall and you’ll see the difference. You can continue this exercise for number six which looks like a hockey stick, number seven which looks like a walking stick, etc.

4 Ways to Help Kids Become ‘Thinkers’

Are you a worried about your developing some analytical and creative skills? There are easy ways to help raise a creative child. From endless games and opportunities, to asking interesting questions of your child, you’ll be surprised how easy it is to develop creative thinking among young children.

Below are some interesting ways to improve your child’s creativity:

1. Present a picture to your child

Ask them to explain what they think is happening in the picture. To make it more interesting, ask them to explain what they think was happening before the picture story, and what they think will happen later on in the story. This will help them to come up with an apt logical sequence. You can play this game together as a family, where everyone can come up with their story from the same picture, and then share it with each other. An ideal picture should be the one with an action.

2. Mute a video

Another idea is to mute a video on the television and tell your kids to write down the conversation that they think should take place, by closely observing the gesture and posture of the actors. You will be surprised to see the results! Children who think on a creative end, will come up with interesting conversations. Maybe they’ll end up giving an unimaginable ending to every Harry Potter sequel!

3. Ask Open-Ended Questions

You can ask your children open-ended questions like, ‘What would you do if you had superman powers?’ , ‘If you can ask for 3 wishes, what would it be?’, ‘If you become the prime minister/leader of your country, what all would you want to do’?. This will help them to be more creative, imaginative and thoughtful.

4. Choose a family story

You can choose a favorite family story, for example, how dad fell asleep at one of the children’s’ annual performances when he was invited as a chief guest. Then ask the child to explain the story from a third person’s perspective, for example, from the principal’s perspective on what she would have thought. Being able to think about a story from an alternative perspective is an important part of improving thinking skills.
It is very important for parents to give some time of the day to enhance their child’s creative thinking skills. This can be half an hour after dinner, or maybe early morning before they go for school. Look into your schedule and make sure that you have chalked out some time to work on this with your kids.

About Eduscan

Creative thinking is a big part of Eduscan’s Winter Camp leadership training course. During the three weeks of this course, they conduct some similar activities in class with children, in order to enhance their logical reasoning and creative thinking skills. This course is specially designed by Dr. Alka Kalra, renowned educational psychologist, and Director of Eduscan Group.

4 Ways to Overcome Phobias and Fears

Do we really know what is a phobia? It is something that makes us nervous; when we get those butterflies in our stomach. It makes us feel different from what we normally feel. Abnormal breathing, sweaty palm, and jittery feeling are just some common signs. The body is not in our control and it is reacting to some unknown factor and that is defined as the true state of phobia.

Even young children suffer from different kinds of phobia or fear. Having phobia or fear can be a factor in one’s growth and development as an individual. Dr. Alka Kalra, renowned educational psychologist, and director of Eduscan Group has shared some interesting steps on how you can overcome your fears and phobias:
SEE ALSO: How to Develop Leadership at Such a Young Age

1. Identify your fear or phobia

You may be scared of water, height, insects, travelling in an airplane, etc. Some students may fear speaking in public. Teenagers or middle school students mostly experience anxiety or fears related to social acceptance and academic achievement. It is extremely important to understand the components that actually trouble you.

2. Identify the factor that brings discomfort to your body

If you are scared of a cockroach, then you need to understand that at what distance it starts troubling you. To understand this you can get an artificial cockroach, first keep it far away and then slowly bring it near you. Distance is a very important factor to identify your fear. The distance at which you feel the discomfort in your body will help you define your fear.

3. Systematic desensitization

Once you understand the factors that trouble you, then you learn to face it. Relax your body, breathe in and breathe out. The only difference between a dead man and an alive man is breath. Be it any emotion, fear or anger, our breathing gets affected, it either becomes too fast or it becomes too slow. We need to focus on how to normalize it. It is important to understand that the brain controls our breathing. Once we understand the art of doing it, we will feel more relaxed and will actually be able to face the fear. And that is exactly what systematic desensitization means; facing your fear!

4. Rationalize the factor

Phobias are unrealistic fears. If you have a fear of driving and you feel someone will hit your vehicle. Try and understand why do you think it will happen only to your vehicle alone? Rationalize it, move it from your right hemisphere to the left hemisphere of the brain which is linked to logical thinking and make sure that you logically start thinking about it. All phobias and fears exist on the right side of the brain. Learn to move it to the left side and start to logically reason it out. Then is the time when you do long deep breathing.
Follow these steps and you will be amazed to see that it is not what your body and mind decides, it is you who control your body and mind. It’s time to take the wheel and drive it to any destination you want to go. Fears exist when you don’t really know what you should be doing when you know your clear steps about it, you can learn to deal with it.
Some things are easier said than done. It might happen that you may find it difficult to follow the above steps. If you want to learn this art and be a part of Dr. Alka’s most powerful program which is known as Untap your hidden potential training. Some people are even phobic of their own success, they don’t even know how to handle it. They are so fearful that they are not able to achieve what they are capable of achieving just because of the mental block. This mental block is ‘I KNOW I CAN’T’! This training will help you remove this mental block. So, If you are on a lookout for how to handle yourself and how to handle your fears how to overcome issues which are stopping you to get effective results, join Dr. Alka Kalra on 21st of September for this training and you’ll see your life changing!

About Dr. Alka Kalra

Dr. Alka is a community development authority (Dubai) certified psychologist and a professional counselor. She believes that each child has unique skills and strengths and is particularly passionate about children with learning difficulties. Through assessments (personality, aptitude and intelligence) and tailor made courses at Eduscan, not just for children but also teachers and parents, she has positively touched the lives of numerous children.
She regularly shares her views on parenting and child rearing practices on TV, radio and on Eduscan’s social media. She has been appreciated and awarded various titles including,

  • Top Indian Achiever Super 100
  • “Woman of the year” by International Women Association
  • “Lady of the year” by Indian Ladies association
  • “Lioness of the year” by Lions Club International
  • All India Best Cadet ‘Gold Medal’ by Prime Minister of India Late Indira Gandhi

3 Effective Strategies to Deal with Stage Fright

‘It’s the biggest day of your life and probably the scariest one too. There are hundreds of people in the audience who have gathered just to hear your speech. You finally step on the stage and hear a huge round of applause. Your speech starts; people are clapping and responding well. Suddenly, you fumble and forget your next few words and everything turns

You will be surprised to know that the third richest person in the world, Warren Buffet was once even scared to take his name in front of everyone. But he had this urge to overcome his stage fright. He joined a public speaking course and successfully completed it. Today, we all know who he is and that’s the power of overcoming fear!
Always remember that nobody can die while speaking on stage. But yes, there are people who would prefer to die, than to speak on stage. Try out a few strategies if you have the desire to speak on stage or in front of a large group of people.
1. Visualize
These strategies can be used anytime. It involves visualizing yourself as a good public speaker, trying to imagine the audience laughing and applauding and visualizing the fact that you are helping various people through your speech.

2. Practice
In order to be well prepared, you need to organize your speaking notes and run a thorough practice. You should be able to memorize the opening statements in such a way that even if someone wakes you up from a deep sleep and asks about it, you should be able to recite it. Keep practising in front of the mirror till you see yourself doing perfectly fine!

3. Stay Calm
Be at the venue preferably an hour early. Notice the things happening at the event and try and include elements from the live event in your speech. Remember to stay calm, revise your notes, take a walk and have sufficient water. Double check your mike, projector, etc. and then you are good to go.

Following these few tips can really make a lot of difference in your performance. Something similar is taught at Eduscan Group summer camps.
The whole objective of the camp is to make the kid confident and independent. The unique part of the camp is its final day function performance where all the camp kids put up a show for their parents. Children get to perform activities like public speaking, karate, yoga, dance, aerobics and more. In fact, during the camp they even work on the memory and concentration of children. On the final day they demonstrate the concentration power of kids by making them read information on a business card blindfolded. They can easily recognize the color of a ball they are handed over, blindfolded! This leaves the audience in awe! The function displays a beautiful transformation in kids and their behavior. Children who used to be scared to talk to strangers come out of the camp with a lot of new friends! It is an overwhelming journey for the parents as well, since they see the transformation in them.
About Eduscan Group

3 Questions for Powerful Parenting through Communication

“The difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between lightning and a lightning bug.” — Mark Twain.Communication is a very important aspect of parenting. Communication between parents and children happens all the time. Therefore, it has the most impact on children.Whatever is being communicated to the children; has a direct impact on their emotional and physical well being.

Also whether the communication is happening ‘at’ instead of ‘with’ children makes a lot of difference. What is more important is ‘how’ the communication happens rather than ‘what’ is being communicated.
SEE ALSO: How to Develop Leadership at a Young Age
We often witness that parents use harsh words or rude language with the children when they are angry with them. During communication with children, 3 filters of utmost importance should be used to improve the communication.

1. Is it true?

Many things are spoken but most of the time if the information is true or not, is not verified. And that creates misunderstanding

2. Is it important?

The second filter is about how important is that information. Parents need to analyse the significance of the information that they wish to convey to their child.

3. Is it helpful?

The third filter is whether the information is helpful to the child or family? Only if it supports and enhance the esteem or motivates the child; should the information be communicated to the child.
These 3 filters help us to eliminate the unwanted statements and enrich the quality of content while communicating with children. This immensely improves the relationship between parents and children.
The approach of the parent also plays a vital role in the way communication occurs. The assertive approach that allows two ways interaction is much more effective than the dictator’s approach which is only commanding or instructing. So it is suggested that parents should encourage their young kids to not only understand non-verbal clues but also effectively use it. If parents positively reinforce this, it gets embedded as a part of their personality.
Parents need to understand their children before being understood by the children, which can be achieved by active listening instead of just hearing while communicating.
What you say is important but how you say is more important.
Are you interested in getting more such insights on parenting? Do you need any feedback and suggestions from an expert? Then don’t forget to listen to the live talk by Dr. Alka Kalra, educational psychologist, on Facebook. She will be live every Thursday at 12:30pm.For further details, follow Eduscan Group on Facebook. Keep your questions ready!

About Dr. Alka Kalra

Dr. Alka is a community development authority (Dubai) certified psychologist and a professional counselor. She believes that each child has unique skills and strengths and is particularly passionate about children with learning difficulties. Through assessments (personality, aptitude and intelligence) and tailor made courses at Eduscan, not just for children but also teachers and parents, she has positively touched the lives of numerous children.
She regularly shares her views on parenting and child-rearing practices on TV, radio and on Eduscan’s social media. She has been appreciated and awarded various titles including:
• Top Indian Achiever Super 100
• “Woman of the year” by International Women Association
• “Lady of the year” by Indian Ladies association
• “Lioness of the year” by Lions Club International
• All India Best Cadet ‘Gold Medal’ by Prime Minister of India Late Indira Gandhi