Token Economy System and Reinforcement Menus:

As far as visual supports go, token boards and reinforcement menus are UBER important!  Once I began using the token economy system with my kiddos, I could have kicked myself for not starting it sooner.  Their negative behaviors decreased, my students’ ability for delayed gratification improved, and as a result my instructional time increased significantly.  YAY! 

Token Boards with Reinforcement Menus are fairly simple to create and implement, but in order to do so effectively you will need to start with some baseline data collection.  At the beginning of each school year, I send home a reinforcement inventory (like this one) for my parents to complete.  This has always been useful, but last year I learned to do a reinforcement assessment with my students (you can find one here and it includes directions).  This tool is perfect for your nonverbal and lower functioning kids!   It will give you precise insight into what item/activity your child will “move mountains” for.  Select the top 6 items/activities from the parent inventory and begin to offer them in pairs.  Take note of the one your student reaches for first. Once you have the data you can score the assessment.  The results tell me which items are THE most reinforcing for the student.  

This student is very patient and therefore has a
five cell token board.  His reinforcement menu
is on the back.

Once you have the results from the assessment it is time to make your token boards!  This site is perfect for downloading a variety of token boards.  Be careful in selecting the number of cells.  If you have a very impatient child, start with two cells and then increase as necessary.  Take pictures of the most reinforcing items from the assessment, laminate and attach to the back of the token board with some Velcro.  This is the student's menu.  Before an activity, the child will select the picture from the menu and place it on the front of the of their board, in the "I Am Working For" box.  As the child demonstrates the desired behavior, the teacher will hand them a token to be placed on the board.  And Voila!!  Decrease in negative behaviors and increase in teaching time!  

Remember!!  You may need to revisit the reinforcement inventory and assessment process periodically if you see a loss of interest in the menu choices offered.