A Token Economy

James uses a simple token-economy or point system during school to help stay on track and manage his behavior. It functions as a daily report from his teachers to me and supplements his daily log from school. James has to earn so many points in a day in order to get a "treasure chest" reward, usually a junk toy. The other day I went to Michael's (a craft store chain) and bought a lot of brightly-colored, flat wooden trinkets, each about the size of a quarter. I don't know what they are really for, but for James, it's like money. (He especially likes the little yellow school buses.) I also got him some unpainted wooden shapes and unpainted letter trains which happen to also fits with his wooden train set. I've noticed that as a reward his teacher occasionally gives him a little writing booklet to write the days of the week in.

The system seems to be working. We go over the sheet at home every night, and even on days where he doesn't earn the treasure chest prize, he says, "try again tomorrow."

In the first example, James was so upset about getting no points for speech that he hand-drew a smiley face himself. He's tried other tricks, such as changing an 11 to 14. But at least he's motivated. The next example shows how the system was later adjusted so that James could understand the consequences for hitting or pushing.

All of James's teachers contribute to the report (they stamp their parts in front of him), so it gives James the sense that it's an important process that everyone follows. It's a good way to get James to talk about his day, and it gives him a sense of structure.