Positive Behavioral Supports

Two Delarc heroes.

During the week of February 15 to 20, Chief Operating Officer, Barbara Rothenberg and Life Coach 10, Sharon Klinger achieved remarkable results in Delarc’s efforts to find practical ways to assist others committed to supporting people with developmental disabilities.

During our visit to two different agencies, one on Monday and Tuesday the other on Wednesday and Thursday, Barb and Sharon spent their first day shadowing an individual chosen by each agency due to the significant challenge each was presenting. We asked them to pick their toughest case.

In one case this included starting at 6:45 A.M. in the person’s home. At the end of the day and into the evening they then devised the approach they would demonstrate the next day. Lesson plans were written as were behavior plans which included reinforcement types and schedules.

The next morning was spent delivering instruction to the particular individual and teaching layers of staff to do the same. Sharon took the lead with instruction as Barb coached staff.

One of the things that distinguishes Delarc is our belief that Directors, in addition to being good administrators, must be excellent teachers. With this in mind, after they observed Sharon and with Barb’s support, the respective directors then took over for Sharon. They followed the lesson plan and learned how to use lavish reinforcement for and planned ignoring. Next came the next supervisor and the next. Finally, direct support staff took their turn.

By noon the individual’s team was prepared to continue the lesson the next day. During the afternoon debrief questions were answered, further detail provided so what they learned could be generalized to other individuals.

At our next stop Wednesday and Thursday, we followed the same process with a different individual. In both cases the results were remarkable. Behaviors were nearly eliminated and the people actively participated in the lessons Barb and Sharon devised.
Simply amazing.

As part of our project we conduct conference calls with the Action Teams of all the organizations every 6 weeks or so. Yesterday we had one and parties from both of those organizations participated and reported to the rest of the group what had occurred and the results they saw. At one point I asked if we showed up today and asked for their toughest cases, if they would choose these two people and in both cases they answered a resounding NO!

Simply amazing. No wonder Barb and Sharon are my heroes!!