Tri-State Webinar: Why is Escape or Avoidance Behavior Happening? How Do Motivating Operations Affect Behavior in the Classroom?

This webinar will discuss the effects of Motivating Operations on behavior. Have you ever wondered why a child falls to the ground when you give him or her the "work" picture or runs the other way when you enter the room? In this session, you will understand how a type of Motivating Operation (CMO-Reflexive) may actually cause a student to engage in high rates of avoidance or escape behavior when presented with instructional demands. During this session, we will explore how this signal for worsening conditions happens in the classroom and how we can abolish this signal and improve behavior. We will discuss methods to increase student's motivation to respond correctly and quickly for instructional periods throughout the day. Participants will have the change to practice putting their new skill to the test.

As a result of attending this webinar, participants will learn:

1. What is a Motivating Operation?
2. How does the Conditioned Motivating Operation-Reflexive affect the behavior of our students with autism?
3. How can we effectively abolish the CMO-R and improve behavior?
4. What role does the CMO-R play in your Behavior Intervention Plan?

Presenter Information:

Beth Klootwyk is a Nationally Certified School Psychologist and Board Certified Behavior Analyst. In her 15 years as a school psychologist, Beth has worked for Grand Island Public Schools, Educational Service Unit #2, and has been working in the Elkhorn Public School District for the past four years. She is a member of the Elkhorn Autism Team and Metro Autism Team and has served as a mentor for several participants in the S.T.E.P.S. program (Strategies and Techniques for Effective Programs in Schools: Educating Children with Autism). Beth is a certified school-based provider for the PEERS social skills curriculum.

Amber Wicherski is a Special Education Coordinator for the Omaha Public Schools. She has Master's degrees in Early Childhood Special Education and Administration and has worked for the Omaha Public Schools for 15 years. Amber coordinates the Autism Consultation Team for the Omaha Public Schools and provides a variety of training in the areas of Autism and Behavior. Amber is currently working toward earning certification as a BCBA.

Teri McGill taught Early Childhood Special Education for Lincoln Public Schools in Nebraska for 18 years. She is currently a Regional Coordinator for the Nebraska ASD Network. As a Regional Coordinator, Teri presents on a variety of topics related to Autism and provides consultation and coaching for educators working with students Birth-21 with Autism or related disorders in her region. Teri holds a Master’s Degree in Special Education from the University of NE-Lincoln and is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA).

Certificate of Completion:

To earn a Certificate of Completion/Attendance for an archived Tri-State Webinar:

1. View the archived webinar on our Moodle site
2. Submit responses to the Study Questions (on Moodle)
3. A Certificate of Completion will automatically be populated. Download and/or print.

Click here for instructions on how to create a Moodle Account.

To log into Moodle go to http://moodle.tasnatbs.org. 

The webinars are listed by category and alphabetical order. The category for this webinar is Instructional Strategies.