ASSESSING AND TREATING VOCAL STEREOTYPY IN CHILDREN WITH AUTISM

• Published in: Journal of applied behavior analysis Vol. 40; no. 2; pp. 263 - 275
• Main Authors: Ahearn, William H., Clark, Kathy M., MacDonald, Rebecca P. F., Chung, Bo In
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford, UK Blackwell Publishing Ltd 2007; Society for the Experimental Analysis of Behavior; The Society for the Experimental Analysis of Behavior
• Subjects: Acoustics; Antisocial Behavior; Approximation; Autism; Autistic children; Autistic Disorder - psychology; automatic reinforcement; Behavior; Behavior Modification; Behavior Problems; Behavior therapy. Cognitive therapy; Biological and medical sciences; Child; Child clinical studies; Children; Children & youth; Communication; Communication Disorders; Communication Skills; Developmental disabilities; Developmental disorders; Echolalia; Educational services; Extinction, Psychological; Female; Functional Behavioral Assessment; Humans; Infantile autism; Intellectual disabilities; Male; Medical sciences; Medical treatment; Oral Language; Phonation; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychomotor Disorders - diagnosis; Psychomotor Disorders - therapy; Psychopathology. Psychiatry; Psychosis; Reinforcement; Reinforcement (Psychology); response interruption; Responses; Sensory Experience; Severity of Illness Index; Social interaction; Speech Communication; Stereotyped Behavior; Stimulation; Stimuli; Treatments; vocal stereotypy; Human; Autism; Evaluation; Automatic reinforcement; Treatment; response interruption; Developmental disorder; Behavior therapy; vocal stereotypy; Child; Stereotypy
• ISSN: 0021-8855; 1938-3703
• DOI: 10.1901/jaba.2007.30-06

Previous research implies that stereotypic behavior tends to be maintained by the sensory consequences produced by engaging in the response. Few investigations, however, have focused on vocal stereotypy. The current study examined the noncommunicative vocalizations of 4 children with an autism spectrum disorder. First, functional analyses were conducted in an attempt to identify the function of each child's behavior. For each of the participants, it was found that vocal stereotypy was likely not maintained by the social consequences. Following assessment, response interruption and redirection (RIRD) was implemented in an ABAB design to determine whether vocal stereotypy could be successfully redirected. RIRD involved a teacher issuing a series of vocal demands the child readily complied with during regular academic programming. Vocal demands were presented contingent on the occurrence of vocal stereotypy and were continuously presented until the child complied with three consecutively issued demands without emitting vocal stereotypy. For each child, RIRD produced levels of vocal stereotypy substantially lower than those observed in baseline. For 3 of the children, an increase in appropriate communication was also observed. The children's teachers were trained to implement RIRD. Brief follow‐up probes and anecdotal information implied that the treatment had a positive impact in the natural environment.