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Adjudicated adolescents detained in residential facilities for illegal sexual behavior, as well as adolescents living at home, may engage in problem behaviors such as excessive vocalizations. In residential detention facilities, these excessive vocalizations may result in disciplinary action and loss of privileges. Moreover, excessive vocalizations may also reduce the amount of positive social interactions that staff members and caregivers have with the adolescents. The current study evaluated a multiple-schedule procedure for reducing excessive vocalizations displayed by three adolescents. The procedure involved (a) a red card to signal that attention was not available and (b) either a green card or no card to signal that attention was available. Results show that the participants learned to abstain from vocalizing for up to 30 min when a caregiver presented the red card. In addition, the treatment effects persisted during generalization assessment sessions.

Researchers frequently argue that a child's engagement in stereotypy may compete with his ability to acquire academic skills, engage in appropriate social interactions, or both; however, few studies have directly tested these suppositions. We used a five-phase assessment to evaluate the extent to which behavioral interventions with a progressively greater number of components were necessary to decrease stereotypy and increase correct responding during academic instructions for five children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders. For one participant, stereotypy decreased when instructors provided standard instruction without specific intervention for stereotypy. For two participants, stereotypy decreased when instructors provided standard instruction plus antecedent intervention for stereotypy with continuous music. For another participant, stereotypy decreased when instructors provided enhanced consequences for correct responding during standard instruction without either antecedent or consequent intervention for stereotypy. For the final participant, stereotypy decreased and correct responding increased when instructors provided standard instruction and consequent intervention for stereotypy.

Cook et al. recently described a progressive model for teaching children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) to provide eye contact with an instructor following a name call. The model included the following phases: contingent praise only, contingent edibles plus praise, stimulus prompts plus contingent edibles and praise, contingent video and praise, schedule thinning, generalization assessments, and maintenance evaluations. In the present study, we evaluated the extent to which modifications to the model were needed to train 15 children with ASD to engage in eye contact. Results show that 11 of 15 participants acquired eye contact with the progressive model; however, eight participants required one or more procedural modifications to the model to acquire eye contact. In addition, the four participants who did not acquire eye contact received one or more modifications. Results also show that participants who acquired eye contact with or without modifications continued to display high levels of the behavior during follow-up probes. We discuss directions for future research with and limitations of this progressive model.

We developed an iOS app, the iSTIM, designed to support parents of children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) in reducing common repetitive vocal and motor behavior (i.e., stereotypy). The purpose of our study was to preliminarily test the decision-making algorithms of the iSTIM using trained university students to implement the assessments and interventions. Specifically, we examined the effects of the iSTIM on stereotypy and functional engagement in 11 children with ASD within alternating treatment designs. Using the iSTIM reduced engagement in stereotypy for eight participants and increased functional engagement for four of those participants. Our results indicate that the iSTIM may decrease engagement in stereotypy but that some of the decision-making algorithms may benefit from modifications prior to testing with parents.

We conducted five experiments to evaluate the predictive validity of a free-operant competing stimulus assessment (FOCSA). In Experiment 1, we showed that each participant's repetitive behavior persisted without social consequences. In Experiment 2, we used the FOCSA to identify high-preference, low-stereotypy (HP-LS) items for 11 participants and high-preference, high-stereotypy (HP-HS) items for nine participants. To validate the results of the FOCSAs (Experiment 3), we used a three-component multiple schedule to evaluate the immediate and subsequent effects of an HP-LS stimulus, an HP-HS stimulus, or both (in separate test sequences) on each participant's stereotypy. Results of Experiment 3 showed that the FOCSA correctly predicted the immediate effect of the HP-LS stimulus for 10 of 11 participants; however, the FOCSA predictions were less accurate for the HP-HS stimulus. Results of Experiment 4 showed that a differential reinforcement of other behavior procedure in which participants earned access to the HP-LS for omitting vocal stereotypy increased all five participants' latency to engaging in stereotypy; however, clinically significant omission durations were only achieved for one participant. Experiment 5 showed that differential reinforcement of alternative behavior in which participants earned access to the HP-LS stimulus contingent upon correct responses during discrete-trial training reduced targeted and nontargeted stereotypy and increased correct academic responding for all four participants. The potential utility of the FOCSA is discussed.

We conducted a series of studies on multiple forms of repetitive behavior displayed by four children with autism spectrum disorder. Study 1 showed that each participant's highest probability repetitive behavior persisted in the absence of social consequences, thereby meeting the functional definition of stereotypy. Study 2 showed that preferred, structurally matched stimulation decreased each participant's targeted (highest probability) stereotypy, as well as their non-targeted (lower probability) stereotypy. Study 3 showed that for three participants, non-contingent access to preferred stimulation decreased immediate and, to some extent, subsequent engagement in targeted and non-targeted stereotypy. For the fourth participant, non-contingent access to preferred stimulation decreased immediate engagement in the targeted stereotypy, but increased subsequent engagement in non-targeted stereotypy; this subsequent increase was attenuated by reducing the duration of access to the preferred stimulus. Study 4 showed that a trial-based differential reinforcement of other behavior (DRO) procedure systematically increased the period of time for which the targeted stereotypy was not displayed for three of three participants. In addition, results showed that the participants' non-targeted stereotypy either decreased or was unchanged when DRO was provided for the targeted stereotypy., (© The Author(s) 2016.)