How are you adjusting reinforcement to reduce maladaptive behavior? Can you reinforce a more appropriate, alternative behavior to replace the maladaptive behavior?
The professional greeting and farewell requires a combination of specific behaviors associated with respect, openness and a certain eagerness to appear valuable to the corporation or the interviewer. Any behaviors that show a lack of positive enthusiasm should be labeled and replaced. Are you precisely labeling what the student does well and building chains of verbal and non-verbal behaviors around those positives?
What are some reinforcing consequences you can deliver either immediately following the desired behavior or following a practice session– things that this particular student enjoys, wants, seeks out, etc.?
Verbal praise, paired with labeling of responses, serves as a great reinforcer for many students. Does the student understand what the expectations are? How do you show him that you value his attempts? The student may have a checklist with several targeted skills (e.g. eye contact, shake hand for 3 seconds, smile, etc.) that are marked after each performance. This way, the student can observe his progress clearly while working towards a certain reward or choice activity.
Are you using labeling and social praise to make the contingency between desired behavior and reinforcing consequence clear to the student?
As the student performs the skill, how are you labeling the successful elements? Verbally labeling the correctly demonstrated skills can be paired with a reinforcement system to provide a more tangible reinforcer for the student who enjoys “seeing” what he did right versus just hearing it. A written review highlighting the student’s role-playing skills can also be shared with caregivers and peers, something else that is motivating for many students.
What reinforcing consequences can you arrange that are more naturally or intrinsically connected to this targeted behavior?