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Contingencies and Contracts: Introduction

Forum References FAQ's Quiz Lecture Introduction Welcome to the topic of contingencies and contracts! Contingencies and contracts are behavioral interventions that can help increase prosocial behaviors and reduce problem behaviors among students with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). The use of contingencies and contracts can also improve motivation and help individuals to understand expectations and boundaries, complete less preferred tasks, and increase responsibility.

For many individuals with ASD the world can be a confusing and unpredictable place. Often they do not understand cause-and-effect relationships and how their behavior impacts themselves and others around them. Additionally they may have great difficulty understanding concepts related to time, which makes waiting for things or knowing when something will happen very difficult. Contingencies and contracts are one way to address these and other characteristics of ASD (American Psychiatric Association, 2000). This lesson teaches you how you can help individuals with ASD to gain more control over their behavior by giving them clear, consistent, and concrete contingencies.

Lecture Content

In the lecture that follows you will learn the following…