Please Wait Procedure

PECS

What is Please Wait Used for?

• Is your child over manding?

• Is your child manding to get out of a procedure?

• USE PLEASE WAIT!

How Do I Use it?The general idea of please wait is when your

child requests an item, you can give them the “please wait” icon.

So that you can continue procedures before giving reinforcers and stop overmanding

What is the Ultimate goal of Please Wait?

• Eventually you want to get your child to a point where they can mand for something but then do 2 procedure trials before getting the reinforcer

Want to use Please Wait?• Your child should be past phase 2F in PECS

before starting Please Wait

• First let your supervisor know that your child is manding inappropriately/ overmanding so they can set you up

How Do I Get Started?• Phases 1-1F take place during down time, during

ELO’s, when you're getting procedure materials, transition times, during PECS etc. NOT DURING SCHEDULED PROCEDURES

• When your child hands you an icon for a reinforcer when you’re doing these things, read it the way you usually would in PECS

• “I want _____”

• But instead of giving the child the reinforcer you give them the please wait icon

Quiz 1

• 1.) What is the ultimate goal of using Please wait?

• 2.) After what phase in PECS do you start using Please wait?

Now What?

• So all exchanges in please wait start the same:– PECS icon exchanged label hand please

wait icon

For Phase 1 the please wait icon touches your child’s hand for ½ second and then you immediately give the requested reinforcer and praise them

Why am I not waiting to give them the reinforcer?

• At first you just want to pair up the icon

• Think of how mad you’d be if you all the sudden had to wait long periods to get what you wanted!

• You are going to slowly build up the time your child waits as they progress through the phases

How do they phase change?

• Please Wait has it’s own version of phase changes:– Three correct responses in a row to phase

change– Three incorrect responses in a row go back a

phase

• Correct responses depend on phase, but include child holding icon and waiting appropriately

So for phase one what does this look like?

• So after you read the sentence strip as you usually would:– PECS icon exchanged label hand please

wait icon

• Icon touches hand for ½ second, then immediately give reinforcer

• Praise child and mark trial correct on please wait data sheet

What about if they don’t get it right?

• Sometimes accidents happen. As we all know sometimes our kids will drop icons they are unfamiliar with

• If the child unintentionally drops the Please Wait icon, pick it up and give it back to them immediately.

• This doesn’t count as an incorrect response

Review: Phase One

• For Phase One:– PECS icon exchanged label hand please

wait icon please wait icon touches your child’s hand for ½ second immediately give the requested reinforcer and praise them

• Mark correct on data sheet and then take back the please wait icon until you use it again

Quiz 2

• 3.) What does the start of all Please wait phases look like?– Hint: _____ _______ _________

• 4.) How long do you wait to give your child a reinforcer in phase 1 of Please wait?

My child is past phase one, now what?

• Luckily ALL please wait trials start the same!– PECS icon exchanged label hand please

wait icon

• Phase 2 differs from phase 1 because in this phase we want your child to accept/grab the icon, not just have it touch their hand

Review: Phase Two

• For Phase Two:– PECS icon exchanged label hand please

wait icon child accepts/grabs icon immediately give the requested reinforcer and praise them

• Mark correct on data sheet and then take back the please wait icon until you use it again

Tips for running “Please Wait”

• Have the reinforcer ready to immediately give it to them.

• This is important because we want to make sure the waiting is slowly built up.

• Otherwise the procedure could become aversive and all sorts of problem behavior can pop up

What happens if problem behavior does pop up?

• Some things like stimming are easily taken care of: – If the child stims on the Please Wait icon,

block the stimming, but do not take the icon away

– Mark the trial as incorrect– Then take back the please wait icon and

continue with what you were doing before

What happens if it’s not just stimming?

• Waiting is not always fun, sometimes our kids may tantrum, cry, yell, or become irritated

How do we fix it?• Mark the trial as incorrect on the data sheet

• Put the requested item icon back on the book

Take down the please wait icon, or take it back (“my turn”) Do ELO’s (as many as needed until child is compliant) Do not give the requested item at that point Continue with your normal procedure as you normally would Next time they request an item, try the waiting procedure again

What happens if they mand during a procedure?

• Because we’re not in the phases where please wait is used during procedures, immediately reinforce the response.

• We’ll tackle manding during procedures in later phases

Getting the hang of things?

• For Phase One:– PECS icon exchanged label hand please

wait icon please wait icon touches your child’s hand for ½ second immediately give the requested reinforcer and praise them

• For Phase Two:– PECS icon exchanged label hand please

wait icon child accepts/grabs icon immediately give the requested reinforcer and praise them

Quiz 3

• 5.) If your child stims or tantrums during Please wait, is the response correct or incorrect?

• 6.) Should you reinforce your child’s manding if it happens during a procedure?

Moving on!

• For Phase Three: PECS icon exchanged label hand please

wait icon child accepts/grabs icon Wait 2 seconds before giving the child the reinforcer

– Mark it correct on the data sheet and praise

• Now there is waiting!!

• It’s still a good idea to have your reinforcer ready so that after the 2 seconds you can hand it over

Quick Review!

• All phases start the same:– PECS icon exchanged label hand please

wait icon

• Phase one: PW icon touches child’s hand for ½ sec then immediately reinforce

• Phase two: child grabs/holds PW icon and then immediately reinforce

• Phase three: child grabs/holds PW icon and wait 2 sec before reinforcing

Quick Review!

• If child is stimming: Block stimming, record as incorrect, prompt hierarchy through rest of trial

• If child is tantruming: mark incorrect on data sheet, put requested icon back on book, do as many ELO’s as needed to get calmed down, don’t give requested item, carry on with procedure and try again later

Time to switch things up

• Now that you’ve established with your child what the please wait icon is, it’s time to increase the amount of time between them getting it and you giving them the reinforcer

Getting started with bigger waiting time

• For phases 4-7, run them during PECS sessions and/or when the child mands for something outside of a procedure trial

• A tip for making the waiting time easier on you and your child? – MAKE IT EXCITING!

Quiz 4

• 7.) True or False? – Since later phases of Please wait incorporate

waiting longer periods of time, it’s preferred that you don’t have the reinforcer at the ready.

• 8.) When do you run phases 4-7?

Phase Four

• How does it start?

• You guessed it! Just like the rest of them!– PECS icon exchanged label hand please

wait icon

• Your child should accept/grab the icon and then wait 5 seconds before giving reinforcer

Phase Five

• Feeling like an old pro?– PECS icon exchanged label hand please

wait icon Child should accept/grab icon

• Wait 10 seconds before giving reinforcer

• HOWEVER! Starting at phase 5 you are doing ELO’s during the entire waiting time. For phase 5 it’s one ELO that lasts 10 seconds

I’m doing an ELO for HOW long??

1…2…3…4…5…6…7…8…9…10 REINFORCER

ELO for

• Yep, you’re doing ONE ELO for 10 whole seconds

• Clapping hands, sing a song, tapping the table

• This is why it’s SO IMPORTANT for you to be entertaining! Encourage your child, count down-make wait time exciting!

Will I have to keep doing long ELO’s?

• For phases 5 and 6 you will be!

• Phase 6 starts the same way they all do– PECS icon exchanged label hand please

wait icon Child should accept/grab icon

• Here you’ll be waiting 20 seconds and doing 2 ELO’s during your waiting time

Phase Six

1…2…3…4…5…6…7…8…9…10…11…12…13…14…15…16…17…18…19…20 REINFORCER

2 ELO’s for

• Try singing a song, clapping hands, make noises during ELO, make silly faces, etc.

• Remember, the more entertaining, the less likely it is your child will engage in problem behavior

Phase Seven

3 ELO’s then REINFORCER

• Now from memory you know:– PECS icon exchanged label hand please

wait icon Child should accept/grab icon

• Here you’ll just be doing 3 ELO’s then giving your child the reinforcer. There is no time limit. But still make them exciting!

Phase Eight• Phase Eight starts the please wait trials

that happen only DURING procedures

• So if during a trial your child mands:– PECS icon exchanged label hand please

wait icon Child should accept/grab icon

• Have the child do 1 procedure trial then give the child the requested reinforcer

Do NOT run this phase for whistle blown procedures, or ones your child is having difficulty with

Phase Nine• So if during a trial your child mands:

– PECS icon exchanged label hand please wait icon Child should accept/grab icon

• Have the child do 2 procedure trial then give the child the requested reinforcer

Do NOT run this phase for whistle blown procedures, or ones your child is having difficulty with

Please wait has it’s own data sheets?

• Yes! These are recorded separately from the PECS data

• They should be in your child’s main procedure binder

When am I supposed to be taking data?

• Anytime you hand over the please wait icon, it counts as a trail – SO TAKE DATA ON IT!

Quiz 5

• 9.) Starting at phase 5, what should you be doing during the waiting time?

• 10.) When and where do you collect data on Please wait?

Phase Information• 1-7 should happen outside of procedure

sessions, i.e. during down time, during ELO’s, when you're getting procedure materials, transition times or during a PECS sections-always should be taken separately from PECS– If child mands for something during a

procedure just reinforce the request until at a phase with procedure specific guidelines

Set up for Phases One-Three• Goal: Pair up Icon

• Run during PECS sessions

• Or when child mands for something outside of a procedure

• Correct response: child must hold the “Please Wait” icon the whole time

Phase One The icon only needs to touch the child’s

hand for ½ sec (They do not need to hold onto or accept the icon)

Then immediately give the child the requested reinforcer and social praise

Phase Two The child should accept/grab the icon As soon as the child accept/grab the

icon immediately give the child the requested reinforcer and social praise

Phase Three The child should accept/grab the icon Wait 2 sec before giving the child the

requested reinforcer

Set up for Phases Four-SevenHave the child place the Please Wait icon on the booth wall, visible to the child (in the designated area), during the waiting period. You can help the child with this, and helping the child do this does not result in an incorrect response

• Run phases 4-7 during PECS sessions and/or when the child mands for something outside of a procedure trial

• Make the waiting time exciting!!

Set up for Phases Four-Seven

Phase Four The child should accept/grab the icon Wait 5 sec before giving the child the requested reinforcer

Phase Five The child should accept/grab the icon Wait 10 sec before giving the child the requested reinforcer Have the child do 1 ELO during the waiting period that lasts the whole

10s.

Phase Six The child should accept/grab the icon Wait 20 sec before giving the child the requested reinforcer Have the child do 2 ELO’s during the waiting period that last whole 20s.

Phase Seven The child should accept/grab the icon Have the child do 3 ELO’s then give the child the requested reinforcer No time limit, just 3 ELO’s

Set up Phases Eight-NineHave the child place the Please Wait icon on the booth wall, visible to the child (in the designated area), during the waiting period. You can help the child with this, and helping the child do this does not result in an incorrect response

• Phases 8 & 9 are to be run during child’s regular procedures

• If the child gets an incorrect response on the procedure trial, do an ELO and then give the requested reinforcer

Set up Phases Eight-Nine Phase Eight

The child should accept/grab the icon Have the child do 1 procedure trial then give the child the requested

reinforcer Run this Phase only when the child requests an item during a

procedure Do NOT run this phase for whistle blown procedures, or ones your

child is having difficulty with

Phase Nine The child should accept/grab the icon Have the child do 2 procedure trials then give the child the

requested reinforcer Run this Phase only when the child requests an item during a

procedure Do NOT run this phase for whistle blown procedures, or ones your

child is having difficulty with