The Benefits of an Enriched Environment: What It is and How to Implement It

Put as simply as possible, an enriched environment means that there are a lot of interesting things to do and engage with. One sentence isn’t much of an article though so let’s look at this a little more deeply, but remember this simple explanation of an enriched environment as we do.

What is the Environment?

Those in the field of ABA use the term environment a little differently; when an ABA practitioner uses it, they mean everything (or stimulus) that an individual comes into contact with and even includes things like a person’s body sensations and thoughts. Humans interact with their environment all day, from turning on the sink, to choosing, making, and eating breakfast, to listening to the radio. Let’s look at an example of a common environment and talk about it behaviourally.

Imagine a park. There can be swings, slides, see-saw’s, climbing bars, poles, anything you want to imagine. The park as an environment includes many things, what a behaviourist might call “stimuli”. All of the things in the park also have their own characteristics. You can see a slide, what a behaviourist might call a “visual stimulus”. You can touch a slide, and sense its qualities, what a behaviourist might call a “tactile stimulus”. If you put in some effort to climb the steps and slide down, you get a sensation of movement in your body, what a behaviourist might call a “sensory stimulus”. You can make a plan about what you want to do in the park and talk to yourself in your mind about it, what a behaviourist might call a “private event”. Behaviourists consider all of these things to be part of a person’s environment.

Humans tend to experience their environment a few ways; 

Motor

Humans can use their body to interact with their environment. You can sit on a swing and push myself. You can pick up a fishing pole and bait and cast it. You can swim in the ocean or walk on the sand. Humans tend to prefer to do things with their body that challenge them without being too difficult. It is also important to note that different people like to do different things and like different levels of challenge.

Cognitive

Humans also use their mind to interact with their environment. You  can make a plan for dinner. You can make a plan for college. You can see a problem in your environment and make a plan to solve it. You can solve a word find. Humans tend to prefer mental tasks that are new and challenging, but not too difficult. Different people like to use their minds in different ways and like different levels of challenge.

Sensory

Humans experience their environment. Everything we do makes us feel something. When you take in a deep breath. When you twirl your hair. When you eat a big meal. When you shout for joy. When you shout in anger. These things we feel in our bodies can either be pleasant or unpleasant. Humans tend to do things that feel pleasant to them and avoid things that feel unpleasant to them. What each person finds pleasant or unpleasant varies from person to person.

Enriching the Environment: Why Bother?

Hopefully by this point some of the benefits of an enriched environment are clear, but is it worth the extra effort? Scientists in the fields of ABA and Neuroscience have studied the effects of an enriched environment and have found that it can improve health outcomes and reduces stress (Francis, et al., 2002).

How Do I Enrich My Environment?

To enrich an environment means to fill it up with a variety of new and favorite challenging things to engage with, either with our bodies or our minds. This can look all sorts of ways, but for now just think about your favorite place to be entertained. What makes that place so entertaining? It probably has many things to engage with that are either new, or pleasantly familiar and you know exactly how to do the things you like best there. You can use that place as a very basic template for what an enriched environment looks like.

An enriched environment is a place where you are known, can feel safe, and have a lot of opportunities to do and experience things that you like. It can take some experimentation to find out the right activities and the right balance for each person, but the work is well worth it. Here are some tips;

Making Old Things New

One way to enrich the environment is to engage with old things in new ways, or to show a person something they didn’t know about a thing they like. Let’s look at some examples;

Have you ever made a space-ship out of a washer box? Built something new with LEGOs or blocks? Picked up something that wasn’t a telephone and pretended to talk on it? All are examples of enriching the environment by using familiar things in new ways.   

Have you ever taught someone how to do something? Tie their shoes, log in at work, or make a sandwich? The interaction between 2 people while learning something new, or something new about something old, can be a very rewarding and enriching experience for both the student and the teacher. 

Being a Sportscaster/Cheerleader

Another way to enrich the environment is to fill it up with interesting and supportive language. Essentially you become a narrator for the person you are taking care of. Let’s return again to the example of going to a park. You can describe what the person is doing as they do it, and make it fun and interesting. It is an opportunity to be the narrator of the person’s story. For example if the person is playing on the slide, you can enrich the environment by saying, “I can see you climbing up the slide! You are so fast! And… Whoosh there you go down the slide! Wow, you look like you are having fun.”

Wrapping Up 

The main idea is that you provide interesting and pleasant options in the person’s environment and then engage with the person in some of the activities. You act as a sort of narrator and guide as they experience the different things their environment has to offer. It is very rewarding to enter into someone’s world and show them all of the wonderful and interesting things about it. Good luck enriching!

References

Francis, D. D., Diorio, J., Plotsky, P. M., and Meaney, M. J. Environmental Enrichment Reverses the Effects of Maternal Separation on Stress Reactivity,

Journal of Neuroscience, 15 September 2002, 22 (18) 7840-7843; DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.22-18-07840.2002

How can Parents Implement a Structure at Home?

Most parents struggle with handling children diagnosed with autism at home. They often have difficulty in getting their children to follow a regular schedule. They encounter a lot of challenges almost every day like a child throwing into tantrums waking up in the morning for school, brushing teeth, dressing, feeding, transitioning, and more. Sometimes, parents find these challenging situations overwhelming. Dealing with children with those disruptive behaviors can be frustrating and really can test the patience of parents.

 There are ways to address this problem and one way is to create a structure at home. Creating a structure at home will help you to be in control of the situation and help the children learn to get used to their daily activities without resorting to challenging behaviors.

 How do we create and implement a structure at home? You have to create a routine for your child to follow every day and implement rules. Routines teach children what to expect throughout the day. You can create a daily routine by setting up a visual daily schedule of activities. Setting up rules and clear expectations in going through each activity on your daily schedule are very important. It will teach the children what behaviors are acceptable and not acceptable. How do we make this work? There are few ingredients to make this work.

Consistency

After setting up the routines and rules at home, it is vital for you to implement all of this consistently. It means that you need to go through it each day in the same way regardless of the changes of situations that you may encounter at home. At times, as parents, you may be really tired from a stressful day at work and here comes brushing time at night where your child gives you a hard time. You must respond to your child’s behavior the same way every time regardless if you are tired or not, if you are sad or happy, etc. Challenging behaviors are less likely to occur again if you use the same consequence. For example, you don’t give the iPad or the toy train not unless the child brushes his/her teeth and the same thing happens when the child doesn’t put his/her clothes in the hamper. You do this even if you are tired and sleepy every time it happens. 

 This goes the same thing when your child is complying with all the routines and rules in place. Don’t forget to reinforce every moment your child is calm and just following your instructions. Reinforce heavily as if you are the happiest mom/dad in the world. Be consistent as well in giving reinforcement no matter what you are going through or what you are feeling. Like for instance, you reinforce the child each time he/she puts the utensils in the sink or puts away his/her toys. You do this even if you are busy with some other house chores and make an effort to give time to praise the child. Your consistent response to each behavior will help those behaviors happen more often.

 Predictability

Daily routines and rules help children with autism know what to expect for the day and know how parents or other family members will react to their behaviors. Setting up daily routines and clear expectations will help these children know what is expected and what is going to happen. For example, your child knows that if he throws the toys instead of putting them away, no iPad. Another example, your child knows that after dinner, he/she needs to take a shower, put on sleeping clothes, brush teeth, and 5 minutes time with the iPad before bedtime.

 Follow-through

Following through is having the child do and complete a demand (e.g., brush teeth) before he/she can have the preferred item (e.g., iPad). You follow through using prompts (e.g., physical prompt, visual prompt, gestural prompt, model prompt, etc.) if the child is not complying. The child can only have the reinforcing item/ activity or can only move to the next activity on the schedule until he/she completes the given task.  Parents must do what you say you will do in response to the child’s behavior. If you say that the child can only have the iPad after brushing his/her teeth then don’t give in and give up to those challenging behaviors that you may face (e.g., throwing the toothbrush, running out from the washroom, etc.) and don’t give the iPad if brushing teeth is not done. If the child complied with the instruction right away and he/she finished brushing his/her teeth, then reinforced heavily by praising the child ‘Well done brushing your teeth.’ and giving the iPad immediately as promised. To be consistent and predictable, we need to follow through. Follow-through is crucial in both good and challenging behaviors.  

Setting up routines and rules at home will help children with autism and their families cope with various challenges they may encounter every day. Consistent routines and rules for these children help create order and structure their day, which makes their life more predictable. A structure at home will help these children learn to follow the routines and rules accordingly specifically if parents follow through, and if they are consistent and predictable. Things will go more smoothly when both parents and the child know what to expect.

The Importance of Structure and Routines

What does structure mean?

Structure is known as a “coherent form or organization” (Merriam-Webster, 2020). Having structure in all aspects of your life can potentially help to reduce stress and create a sense of balance in the everyday hustle and bustle. Structure does not always have to be a specific time-table of events (however if that’s what works for you, then go ahead!). Structure can also just be knowing what is coming up next; i.e., now that I ate my breakfast, it’s time to brush my teeth. Having some sort of structure and routine set-up can take away the uncertainty of the day, and promote independence for your children. It is important to know that even if we have everything perfectly planned out, sometimes life throws obstacles your way. Although this can be challenging, having some sort of daily routine can help bring balance back to your life, even when things get tricky.

What does structure look like in the home?

Creating a routine that is specific to your home will look different for everyone. Your routine will be based on the needs of the individuals in your home, as well as determining a system that works best for your home environment. There are 3 key points to keep in mind for creating structure and any kind of routine in your home, and these include:

• Ensure expectations are clear and understood: Setting expectations will be rules to fall back on when your day becomes challenging. Additionally, this will promote independence in your children as they will know what is expected of them, and will not always have to rely on adult prompts.

• Determine how your child can best understand a schedule: There are many ways to introduce schedules in your household, some examples are visual schedules, or an activity schedule. 

• Make your routine predictable: Your child should know what to expect throughout the day, so ensure you follow through with the schedule that is created. This can be the hardest part, so remember to be consistent, it will be worth it.

Why is this important for my child?

Having a simple routine to follow can help alleviate the stress of everyday life, not only for children, but for parents as well. Studies show that many (but not all) children with Autism are visual thinkers, and many rely on visual or verbal prompts (cues) from the environment (Mavropoulou, 2010). Additionally, many children with Autism experience difficulty organizing their thoughts and environment independently. Dalrymple (1995) explains that “when concrete information is in place about the day’s or week’s events, it is far easier to explain change than having to rely on verbal explanations” (p. 252, as cited by Dettmer, Simpson, Myles and Ganz, 2000). Simply put, having an established schedule for your home will help create structure and stability in your life when life throws obstacles your way. Your schedule will be the backbone of your home, and will always be something to refer back to.

References  

Dettmer, J. (n.d.). The use of visual supports to facilitate transitions of students with autism. Focus on Autism and Other Developmental Disabilities., 15(3), 163–169.

Mavropoulou, S. (n.d.). Effects of Task Organization on the Independent Play of Students with Autism Spectrum Disorders. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders., 41(7), 913–925.

Merriam-Webster. (n.d.). Structure. In Merriam-Webster.com dictionary. Retrieved April 3, 2020, from https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/structure