A reinforcer serves to increase desired behaviors. It is very important to reinforce immediately following the correct response. The reinforcer should be selected on an individualized basis, and must be something the child really appreciates. It can be food, praise, hugs, etc. The process starts with simple tasks, such as getting the child to remain at the table, or respond to his name.
Instructions have to clear, concise and uncomplicated.
Prompts are used to direct the process towards success. Every drill should end successfully, and if a child is having trouble achieving a particular goal the therapist will pose an attainable goal in order to end successfully. The present study followed-up this finding by assessing subjects at a mean age of 11.5 years. Results showed that the experimental group preserved its gains over the control group. The 9 experimental subjects who had achieved the best outcomes at age 7 received particularly extensive evaluations indicating that 8 of them were indistinguishable from average children on tests of intelligence and adaptive behavior.