Evaluation of Token Economy for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

This report delves into the application of token economies within the framework of Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA) for children diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). It explores the use of token economies as a positive reinforcement strategy, where children earn tokens for demonstrating desired behaviors, which can then be exchanged for rewards. The report highlights the target population, research efficiency, strengths, and weaknesses of this intervention. It discusses the generalizability and treatment feasibility of token economies, considering factors such as cultural diversity and potential challenges in implementation. The report references various studies to support its findings, providing a comprehensive overview of the benefits, limitations, and practical considerations associated with using token economies to modify behaviors in children with ASD. The report concludes with a discussion of the effectiveness of token economies and the need for further research.

Running head: BROCHURES FOR AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDER
BROCHURES FOR AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDER
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1BROCHURES FOR AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDER
Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA): Token Economy
Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) are known to demonstrate a range of unique behaviors which are
often regarded as undesirable, such as: inability to respond or demonstrate any interest during interactions or
learning, avoidance of engaging in play, a tendency to socially isolate themselves, inability to empathize with
other’s emotions, feelings of sadness or being upset over minor changes and frequent engagement in repetitive
behaviors or phrases and inability to give valid responses to questions during teaching (Roane, Fisher & Carr,
2016). Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA) interventions comprise of a range of therapeutic strategies designed
for the purpose of understanding factors influencing the specific behaviors and responses demonstrate by children
with ASD as well as for the purpose of reducing the above problematic behaviors in order to increase desirable
learning behaviors associated with improved attention, memory, social interaction and overall academic behavior
(Odom, Hall & Suhrheinrich, 2019).
Token economy is a type of ABA intervention
comprising of positive reinforcement strategies in
which the concerned child with ASD is awarded or
gifted a ‘token’ or some ‘reward’ which they can
‘earn’ or use to obtained desirable awards, after
demonstrating a form of behavior or response
regarded as positive or targeted by the teacher within
the educational setting. Token economies are used
frequently within educational settings for the purpose
of increasing or decreasing any behavior which are
considered to be positive or negative by the teacher.
These can comprise of dummy coins, stars or a reward
board calculating points for each child earning a
‘token’.
Target Population
The target population upon which token
economies have been evidenced to yield beneficial
effects is children demonstrating problematic ASD
behaviors like lack of attention, empathy, ability to
memorize or inability to learn a new phrase or word (El
Zein et al., 2016).

2BROCHURES FOR AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDER
Research Efficiency
Token economies have been evidenced in the case control study by Whitney, Cooper & Lingo, 2018), to yield
positive behavior within children with ASD since they induce feelings of motivation and encouragement in the
child and thus, pave the way for increased levels of attention, empathy and social interaction in such children.
Additionally, according to Cihon et al., (2019), token economies have been evidenced to be feasible since they are
understood easily by children and also pave the way for easy identification of motivating factors for children with
ASD by both parents and teachers. As per Nottingham et al., (2017), token economies have also been evidenced to
be advantageous in enhancing the effectiveness of other ABA interventions, quickening the time for positive
behaviors within ASD children as well as reduced likelihood of inducing saturation when used in a various and
novel forms.
Treatment Feasibility
In terms of acceptability, demand and
integration, ABA interventions comprising of token
economy has been evidenced to be one of the
simplest strategies of inducing behavior change
which can be implemented individual, within
classroom settings and is widely acceptable and
understood by both children and parents alike (Solis
et al., 2016). In terms of adaptability and practicality
however, it may not be feasible to use a single token
economy system for ethnically or linguistically
diverse ASD children which in turn, raises the
difficulty of maintaining multiple token economies.
Additionally, within classrooms comprising of older
children with ASD, the token economy may be
perceived to be competitive in nature and may
demonstrate perception of unfairness and injustice to
other children and their parents who are not being
awarded tokens (Lydon, Healy & Grey, 2017).
Generalizability
Due to the relative simplicity of this
intervention, the benefits of the token economy can be
generalized to educational settings delivering ASD
teaching and learning facilities for children with ASD.
However, as discussed previously, the intervention may
be difficult to implement across a class consisting of
multilingual children or children belonging to diverse
ethnic and cultural backgrounds (Townley-Cochran et
al., 2017).
Weaknesses
Despite its proven effectiveness, there is however limited research concerning the benefits of a token
economy upon adults or older children or adolescents with ASD. Additionally, despite its ability to encourage the
achievement of positive behaviors in children with ASD, it is worthwhile to remember that ASD children often
find routine to be desirable and thus, changes within the existing learning or teaching system are likely to induce
feelings of sadness or disengagement in such children (Almeida et al., 2018). Such risks are thus, likely to occur if
the teacher decides to withdraw or halt to token economy system. There is limited research regarding on how long
the token economy should continue or the strategies which may be required to combat the possible negative
behaviors which may be demonstrated by the child in response to sudden absence of this ABA intervention
(Townley-Cochran et al., 2017).

3BROCHURES FOR AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDER
References
Almeida, D. A., Allen, R., Maguire, R. W., & Maguire, K. (2018). Identifying Community-
Based Reinforcers of Adults with Autism and Related Disabilities. Journal of Behavioral
Education, 27(3), 375-394.
Cihon, J. H., Ferguson, J. L., Milne, C. M., Leaf, J. B., McEachin, J., & Leaf, R. (2019). A
preliminary evaluation of a token system with a flexible earning requirement. Behavior
Analysis in Practice, 12(3), 548-556.
El Zein, F., Gevarter, C., Bryant, B., Son, S. H., Bryant, D., Kim, M., & Solis, M. (2016). A
comparison between iPad-assisted and teacher-directed reading instruction for students
with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Journal of Developmental and Physical
Disabilities, 28(2), 195-215.
Lydon, H., Healy, O., & Grey, I. (2017). Comparison of behavioral intervention and sensory
integration therapy on challenging behavior of children with autism. Behavioral
Interventions, 32(4), 297-310.
Nottingham, C. L., Vladescu, J. C., Kodak, T., & Kisamore, A. N. (2017). Incorporating multiple
secondary targets into learning trials for individuals with autism spectrum
disorder. Journal of applied behavior analysis, 50(3), 653-661.
Odom, S. L., Hall, L. J., & Suhrheinrich, J. (2019). Implementation science, behavior analysis,
and supporting evidence-based practices for individuals with autism. European Journal
of Behavior Analysis, 1-19.

4BROCHURES FOR AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDER
Roane, H. S., Fisher, W. W., & Carr, J. E. (2016). Applied behavior analysis as treatment for
autism spectrum disorder. The Journal of pediatrics, 175, 27-32.
Solis, M., El Zein, F., Vaughn, S., McCulley, L. V., & Falcomata, T. S. (2016). Reading
comprehension interventions for students with autism spectrum disorders: An alternating
treatments comparison. Focus on Autism and Other Developmental Disabilities, 31(4),
284-299.
Townley-Cochran, D., Leaf, J. B., Leaf, R., Taubman, M., & McEachin, J. (2017). Comparing
error correction procedures for children diagnosed with autism. Education and Training
in Autism and Developmental Disabilities, 52(1), 91-101.
Whitney, T., Cooper, J. T., & Lingo, A. S. (2018). Using a Token Economy Combined with a
Mystery Motivator for a Student with Autism Exhibiting Challenging
Behavior. Kentucky Teacher Education Journal: The Journal of the Teacher Education
Division of the Kentucky Council for Exceptional Children, 5(2), 1.

5BROCHURES FOR AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDER
Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA): Visual Schedules
Children with ASD have been evidenced to demonstrate a range of difficulties during
participation in various activities of teaching or learning. These include: the inability to
understand a new phrase or word, inability to direct attention towards the component being
taught, difficulties in memorizing and a tendency to engage in routine or repetitive behaviors
(Roane, Fisher & Carr, 2016). Such limitations thus make it difficult to introduce or make
children with ASD understand new elements within the curriculum. Applied Behavioral Analysis
(ABA) interventions have been evidenced to be useful in terms of assisting teachers understand
to the key protective factors encouraging learning within ASD children, which in turn, can be
used to target the enhancement of positive learning behaviors in such children (Movahedzadeh &
Mansouri, 2017).
One such prevalently used ABA intervention is a visual schedule. A ‘visual schedule’ is a
form of prompt portraying a routine, structure or schedule to be followed using novel graphical
elements for the purpose of making children with ASD understand or predict events or steps to
be followed in sequence for the purpose of learning any new activity. Visual Schedules within
the ASD classroom can include charts, tables, flow charts, videos, pictures, written records or
even a list of daily routines and tasks to be performed (Mah & Tsang, 2016).
Target Population
A key behavioral factor underlying ASD is a tendency to prefer routine which in turn,
hinders the ability to learn new or seemingly complication learning outcomes. Visual schedules
are known to work well with both adults as well as children with ASD due to their ability to
present routines and steps to learning new activities (Hugh, Conner & Stewart, 2018).

6BROCHURES FOR AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDER
Research Efficiency
Visual schedules have been evidenced in the experimental study by Dash and Senapati
(2018), to be useful in teaching ASD children with new words or tasks required to learn a new
activity. This is because visual schedules highlight such steps in specific, simple steps, times and
instructions which are well perceived by such children due to their tendency to feel comfortable
with routine. Additionally, according to the observational study by Goldman et al., (2018), visual
schedules as an ABA intervention has been evidenced to be effective for implementation across
school as well as home settings since teachers can easily enlighten parents on their application in
the form of lists and plans handed to the child at home. Visual schedules have been evidenced in
the cross sectional study by Ruhela and Parween (2018), to induce long term benefits of
empowering and instilling self-management skills in ASD children since with time, children can
be encouraged to formulate their own schedules in the form of personal improvement or career
plans.
Treatment Feasibility
In terms of acceptability and demand, visual schedules demonstrate commendable
feasibility considering that they are prevalently found in the form class time tables, charts and
notes as traditional methods of teaching children with ASD the sequences or rules to be followed
for specific task completion (Macdonald et al., 2018). Additionally, visual schedules can be well
integrated within both school and home environments in the form of simply, pictorial ‘to-do’
lists which parents can hand over to their children as instructions. However, visual schedules
have been evidenced to be beneficial supplement for enhancing existing ABA interventions and
thus may not be practical to implement on its own within the classroom (Daneshwar et al., 2019).
Generalizability
Considering that the effectiveness of visual schedules like in their ability to incorporate
pictorial or graphical novelty, the effectiveness may not be possible to generalize in small scale
educational settings with limited financial resources. Additionally, visual schedules have been
evidenced to be useful in enhancing the effectiveness of additional teaching or ABA strategies.
Thus, their effectiveness is difficult to generalize across those educational settings wishing to
rely on visual schedules as the only ABA intervention (Hugh, Conner & Stewart, 2018).
Weaknesses
As discussed previously, visual schedules are useful in assisting ASD children to
understanding the steps or structures to be followed, due to their tendency to view routine
positively. However, visual schedules have been evidenced to be ineffective, when they are
converted to teach those activities which are regarded to be undesirable for such children. There
is thus a need for greater research concerning effective transitioning of visual schedules from
desirable to undesirable activities (Daneshwar et al., 2019).

7BROCHURES FOR AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDER
References
Daneshvar, S. D., Charlop, M. H., & Berry Malmberg, D. (2019). A treatment comparison study
of a photo activity schedule and Social Stories for teaching social skills to children with
Autism Spectrum Disorder: brief report. Developmental neurorehabilitation, 22(3), 209-
214.
Dash, S., & Senapati, A. (2018). Effectiveness of visual schedule in combination with sensory-
integration therapy for developing self-care in children with autism. The Indian Journal
of Occupational Therapy, 50(3), 98.
Goldman, S. E., Glover, C. A., Lloyd, B. P., Barton, E. E., & Mello, M. P. (2018). Effects of
parent implemented visual schedule routines for African American Children with ASD in
Low-income home settings. Exceptionality, 26(3), 162-175.
Hugh, M. L., Conner, C., & Stewart, J. (2018). Intensive Intervention Practice Guide: Using
Visual Activity Schedules to Intensify Academic Interventions for Young Children with
Autism Spectrum Disorder. Office of Special Education Programs, US Department of
Education.
Macdonald, L., Trembath, D., Ashburner, J., Costley, D., & Keen, D. (2018). The use of visual
schedules and work systems to increase the on‐task behaviour of students on the autism
spectrum in mainstream classrooms. Journal of Research in Special Educational
Needs, 18(4), 254-266.
Mah, J. W., & Tsang, P. (2016). Visual schedule system in dental care for patients with autism:
A pilot study. Journal of Clinical Pediatric Dentistry, 40(5), 393-399.

8BROCHURES FOR AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDER
Movahedzadeh, B., & Mansouri, M. J. S. (2017). Effectiveness of applied behavior analysis in
the self-help skills and stereotyped behaviors of children with autism spectrum disorder
in Isfahan. Social Determinants of Health, 3(3), 141-147.
Roane, H. S., Fisher, W. W., & Carr, J. E. (2016). Applied behavior analysis as treatment for
autism spectrum disorder. The Journal of pediatrics, 175, 27-32.
Ruhela, V. S., & Parween, S. (2018). Effect of visual communication in tracking activity
schedule among children with autism spectrum disorder. Indian Journal of Health &
Wellbeing, 9(5).