The ultimate reinforcer for most learners is success and the good feelings that come with doing something well or gaining enjoyment from the activity.

The overarching goal of TAGteach is to give the learner the gift of enjoyment and success in participating in, or completing an activity. Ultimately we want to move away from the need to use tangible reinforcers (like stickers or candies) and have the learner gain reinforcement from the activity itself.

The swimming lesson video provides a great example of this. At first we had to use Skittles to motivate Lear to try to swim. There was nothing about the early steps in the process that gave him any feeling of success or were fun or satisfying enough for him to do them just for their own sake. Once he developed some confidence and discovered the joy of moving himself independently in the water, he was happy to do the behavior of swimming without needing any more Skittles.

With very young or reluctant learners it’s almost always necessary to use tangible reinforcers to get the behavior going to the point that natural reinforcers can take over.