Counselors implement the behavior modification treatment during recreational activities such as basketball, soccer, softball, and swimming. Counselors also conduct sports skills training, social skills training, and problem solving training. Counselors and children participate together in group cooperative task sessions and counselors facilitate dyadic friendship development. During these activities, counselors award points to the children for behaviors such as following the rules of the activity, helping a peer, sharing with a peer, complying with staff members' commands, contributing to group discussions, and ignoring provocation and insults. Staff members take points from the children for behaviors such as aggression, noncompliance, lying, verbal abuse, teasing, swearing, interrupting, and complaining.
Children exchange the points that they earn for weekly field trips and home-based rewards.
In addition to the behavioral programs described above, all staff members implement time out from positive reinforcement when a child exhibits intentional aggression, intentional destruction of property, or repeated noncompliance. Children also participate in Academic and Art Learning Centers each day. During these periods, special education teachers and aides implement behavior modification programs that are designed to treat children's problems in a classroom context. In the Academic Learning Center, children spend 2 hours in academic seatwork, peer tutoring activities, and computer learning activities. Counselors use the learning center periods to plan activities, to design and revise individualized programs and targets for children's daily report cards, and to meet individually or as a group for supervision from ADHD Program staff members.