An Investigation of Functional Communication Training and Schedule Thinning Using a Multiple Schedule on Elopement to Access Stereotypy

Springer. Available from: Springer Nature. One New York Plaza, Suite 4600, New York, NY 10004. Tel: 800-777-4643; Tel: 212-460-1500; Fax: 212-460-1700; e-mail: [email protected]; Web site: https://link.springer.com/

Y

11

Autism; Pervasive Developmental Disorders; Behavior Modification; Behavior Problems; Intervention; Discrimination Learning; Functional Behavioral Assessment; Reinforcement; Behavior Patterns

10.1007/s10803-020-04788-7

0162-3257

Individuals diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) who engage in stereotypy may also emit a prior, temporally contiguous, high-risk response to access stereotypic behaviors. For example, the participant in this study who was diagnosed with ASD engaged in a chained response that included elopement, often in unsafe locations, to access light switch flipping. Previous research indicates that functional communication training (FCT) with delay fading is a viable approach to reduce chained problem behavior. In this study, we extended previous research by (a) evaluating the generalized effect of FCT and schedule thinning using multiple schedule technology for an automatically maintained chained response, and (b) evaluating whether intervention effects maintained in the participant's optimal context. Results for the participant suggested that FCT with schedule thinning mitigated high-risk chained responding across settings and discrimination training using a multiple schedule assessment effectively signaled available and unavailable times for the participant to emit the chained response which matched the participant's natural schedule parameters.

As Provided

2021

EJ1306405