Aspergers Syndrome Children And Motivation
By Nelle Frances

Aspergers Syndrome children respond best when their motivation
level is high; when the answer to the question "What's in it for
me?" is something an Asperger child most wants or desires.
Children with Aspergers Syndrome never really make the leap from
instant gratification to internal motivation or drive, such as
self-satisfaction in a job well done, or pride in their ability
to face a challenging situation. Aspergers Syndrome children are
simply wired differently emotionally, and parents and educators
soon come to realize that motivation to attempt or complete
tasks is closely linked to perceived personal gain or reward for
the child.

For Asperger children to achieve and keep on achieving, the
possibility of personal reward must be present as a motivator.
Often this reward revolves around the special interest of the
Asperger child.

So how do we achieve a state of constant motivation and satisfy
the need for almost instant gratification without bankrupting
our finances?

I believe a Token Economy best suits the needs of children with
Aspergers Syndrome. A Token Economy is a system where the
Asperger child earns tokens as a reward for desired behaviors
or actions. A predetermined number of tokens are then exchanged
or “cashed in” for an item or activity the Asperger child
desires.

A Token Economy is flexible and can be easily tailored to suit
the individual needs of a child with Aspergers Syndrome, and
importantly, their individual desires – what motivates them.

Token Economies that use money tokens seem to be the most
successful with Aspergers Syndrome children in increasing their
ability to delay gratification, and lessening the risk of
satiation (overuse of a reward can result in the child no longer
viewing it as a reward). Using money in a Token Economy negates
the need for the Asperger child to decode an abstract concept,
as in the ‘real’ world people are paid money for completing
tasks by way of employment.

A token economy works well with Aspergers Syndrome children at
school and at home right through Elementary School, and can
continue to be used successfully at home throughout High School.

Aspergers Syndrome children take a long time establish trust,
and for this reason a token economy should focus on rewarding
desired behaviors and actions. Once the program has been
established for a number of years, you may then be able to
introduce “fines” or response costs, where the Aspergers
Syndrome child is fined for inappropriate behavior. This
correlates the Token Economy program with real-world experiences
for Aspergers Syndrome children – if I drive too fast, I get a
speeding fine; if I park where I shouldn’t, I get a parking
fine. However, the focus of the program must be on the
positives, because children with Aspergers Syndrome are prone to
quickly losing their motivation and trust.

Be creative with the reinforcers offered as motivation for AS
children. Offering a ‘menu’ of rewards to choose from seems most
successful. Initially for children with Aspergers Syndrome
“cashed in” rewards need to be fairly instant i.e. at the end of
each day. Over time this can be stretched to the end of each
week. As the AS child matures this delayed gratification may be
able to be stretched to a month or term, however small rewards
and motivators should be offered consistently along the way.

As with all strategies used with Aspergers Syndrome children,
patience and perseverance are the keys to success when using a
Token Economy – but the rewards for both participants and
facilitators are immense!

©Nelle Frances
www.nellefrances.com

About the Author: Nelle Frances is the mother of a 15 year old
with Asperger's Syndrome, a Special Needs Educator and Author of
the Ben and His Helmet series of books for Asperger children.
For more information and Support Strategies visit
http://www.nellefrances.com

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