Giving More Choices, Getting Less Resistance

In an earlier blog post, we talked about the science of how we tend to make choices… (See our blog post on The Matching Law)

It was suggested by Lynn Koegel and Robert Koegel in the 90s that giving children more choices could be an easy to use strategy for teachers to reduce behaviours at school!

It seemed so simple, and kind of crazy… so crazy it just might work! And it does work!

And it doesn’t just work at school, it can work at home too!

Simply adding a few choices throughout your child’s day can help to prevent and lower the number of tantrums, whining, and other behaviours parents deal with on a daily basis.

Here are some examples of ways that you might be able to incorporate some extra choices into yours and your child's daily routines (these examples are mostly for younger children, but you could add choices to your older child's or teens routines too!):

Brushing Teeth

Try giving your child:

• A choice between two or three different flavoured toothpastes

• A choice between two or three toothbrushes (e.g., different colours, or electric vs. manual, etc.)

Getting Dressed

Try giving your child:

• A choice between types of clothes (e.g., pants vs. shorts vs. sweat pants)

• A choice between articles of clothing (e.g., blue pants vs. black pants)

Eating

Try giving your child:

• A choice between two different foods

• A choice between different utensils (e.g., different coloured/shaped forks)

• A choice between different plates/bowls/Tupperware to put food on/in

• A choice between different cups to drink from

• A choice between different places at the table to sit

Playing and Learning

Try giving your child:

• A choice between leisure activities to do (e.g., trains or blocks)

• A choice between academic activities to do (e.g., colouring, worksheets, puzzles, etc.)

• A choice between TV shows

• A choice between indoor or outdoor activities

Washing Hands and Face

Try giving your child:

• A choice between foamy, regular, or bar soap

• A choice between different coloured/sized wash clothes

• A choice between different washing materials (e.g., cloth, loofa, sponge, etc.)

Washing Hair

Try giving your child:

• A choice between two or more coloured/sized cups to use to pour water on their head

• A choice between two or three shampoos (e.g., with different fun characters on the bottles)

For this week's "Try this Thursday" try adding one choice to one routine today! And again tomorrow! And again the next day!

Let me know below (or in an e-mail!) what choices you added to your routines, and if you noticed any less resistance within these routines with your child!

You got this!

Some nerdy resources:

Pivotal Response Intervention I: Overview and Approach by Lynn Koegel, Robert Koegel, Joshua Harrower, and Cynthia Carter

The Effect of Choice-Making as an Intervention for Problem Behavior: A Meta-Analysis by Karrie Shogren, Michael Faggella-Luby, Sung Bae, and Michael Wehmeyer

The Effect of Providing Choices on Skill Acquisition and Competing Behavior of Children with Autism During Discrete Trial Instruction by Bobby Newman, Meredith Needelman, Dana Reinecke, and Adrienne Robek

The PRT Pocket Guide: Pivotal Response Treatment for Autism Spectrum Disorders by Robert Koegel and Lynn Koegel

Pivotal Response Treatment for Autism Spectrum Disorders by Robert Koegel and Lynn Koegel with other contributing authors!