What Comes Before “Resilience”?

“Resilience” refers to a constellation of behavioral repertoires, such as an internal locus of control, regulation, and flexibility, that help many people bounce back from negative experiences. The stronger one’s resilience, the less likely an aversive experience proves to be a “traumatic” experience. And it is neither something that people are born with, nor something develops overnight.

Depending upon our history, the foundations contributing to resilience may begin to develop long before we start to crawl and they can be strengthened or weakened at any time.

In this presentation, Steve Ward will identify these repertoires in a bottom-up sequence, help with assessing where your learners are vis-a-viz these foundations, and will discuss some interventions that can help to strengthen these foundational repertoires.

Steve Ward, MA, BCBA has been working in the field of Behavior Analysis since 1995, and is currently co-owner of Whole Child Consulting, LLC. Steve has been consulting to teams around the world, addressing everything from early communication and physical aggression to vocational opportunities and inclusion in college courses.

Steve authored What You Need to Know about Motivation and Teaching Games: An In-depth Analysis, The Inventory of Good Learner Repertoires, and Teaching Good Learner Repertoires and co-authored Teaching Advanced Learner Repertoires, Another 21 Games: This time, it’s personal…, and 2,100+ Inexpensive Ideas for Play and Intrinsic Motivation. These publications reflect Steve’s passion not only for what students learn, but also for the manner in which they learn it. Steve specializes in teaching learner repertoires, including social repertoires, incorporating knowledge from a variety of perspectives and remaining at all times behavioral in his own perspective.

Is there anything else you would like us to know about your presentation?

By the time I present, I will have co-authored at least 1 published book on “resilience” with Paulie Gavoni, probably 2. One is a parent version and one is a teacher version. They both recommend a bottom-up, middle-road approach to presenting challenges and providing supports. Related to the title of this submission, I have been running a webinar series titled “What comes before _____?” It reflects my observations about problems associated with skipping steps in scope-and-sequence for any skills and my analysis of some learner repertoires not commonly recognized as “coming before” popular targets.