Positive Reinforcement in Therapy Sessions

I love seeing each of my students faces light up when they are provided with positive reinforcement. Their smiles are priceless and it really makes them try even harder. Think back to parents, teachers, mentors and other individuals in our lives that made us smile on those bad days through encouraging words or even a simple, "Wow, you did it!" Therefore, I think it is so important for us to continue to incorporate positive reinforcement into our   therapy sessions   and life in general.

If we can find something positive to say first and then incorporate what we want our student and/or client to work on next time, then I think each individual will be more receptive to what the clinician says. Positive reinforcement can be modified for all ages. Below are some of the themes that I have used throughout some of my therapy sessions:

The picture on the right is of underwater creatures and for this session the theme was "Swimming to Success." They loved earning an underwater creature and naming it whenever they got to pick one. The underwater creatures stay in the speech room, but during their session, they have a chance to earn them. Whenever they earn a creature, I provide them with some sort of feedback so they know what they did right, as well as what they can improve on.

The students love to see "What is in the Bag" whenever they do good work in one of the activities for speech therapy. At the end of the week, they get to pick something out of the bag after their therapy session. It could be a sticker, pencil, eraser, etc. I think they really like the surprise of picking something out of the bag and they look forward to it.

Here are some free Positive Reinforcement Behavior Charts that I have found useful:

Free Rewards and Incentives - http://havefunteaching.com/tools/rewards-and-incentives/

Positive Reinforcement: A Behavior-Management Strategy - http://www.superduperinc.com/handouts/pdf/238_PositiveReinforcement.pdf

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