With the rising number of individuals diagnosed with autism and other developmental disabilities comes an increased need for effective assessment and treatment options. Previous research has indicated that applied behavior analytic techniques are among the most empirically supported and utilized treatments for this population; however, curriculum…

The efficacy of delivering autism-focused Functional Behaviour Assessment (FBA) training within a six-session professional development (PD) framework was investigated with 23 Australian educators. FBA knowledge, self-efficacy (SE), and confidence were measured pre-to-post-PD series as markers of educator ability to address the challenging…

This study examined the relations between child internalizing behavior problems and social competence in a sample of young children (N = 166) with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) as they transitioned to early schooling. Previous literature suggested higher rates of comorbid psychopathology in this population of children; however, a limited number…

This article explicitly addresses the correlation between communication and behavior, and describes how to provide intervention addressing these two overlapping domains using an intervention called functional communication training (FCT; E. G. Carr & Durand, 1985) in individuals with ASD. A step-by-step process is outlined with supporting…

Two children with autism who engaged in aggression and stereotypy were assessed using common analogue functional analysis procedures. Aggression was maintained by access to specific preferred items. Data on the rates of stereotypy and appropriate play were collected during an extended functional analysis tangible condition. These data reveal that…

An extensive literature on the causes of challenging behaviors has been developed, primarily in the applied behavior analysis literature. One hundred and seventy-three empirical studies were reviewed where functional assessment serves as the primary method of identifying these causes. Most of the studies were able to identify a clear function or…

In this article, written by Phil Reed and Lisa Osborne, both from Swansea University, the impact of severity of autism, and the time-input of the treatment programme, on the outcome effectiveness for four early interventions for individuals on the autism spectrum was explored. The four interventions studied were applied behaviour analysis (ABA),…

Background: Self-restraint is a pervasive phenomenon among individuals who engage in self-injurious behaviour (SIB). Materials and Methods: The present study examined the use of clothing as a socially acceptable alternative to self-restraint to reduce SIB and other topographies of self-restraint in an adolescent diagnosed with autism. Two separate…

We studied the correlation between response to fluvoxamine and serotonin transporter gene promoter region polymorphism (5-HTTLPR). Eighteen children with autistic disorder completed a 12-week double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized crossover study of fluvoxamine. Behavioral assessments were obtained before and at 12 weeks of treatment.…

Results of prior studies (e.g. [J. Appl. Behav. Anal. 32 (1999) 285]) showing that participants chose alternative behavior (compliance) over escape-reinforced destructive behavior when this latter response produced escape and the former response produced positive reinforcement may have been due to (a) the value of the positive reinforcer…

A functional analysis was performed on a five-year-old nonverbal Autistic female with severe self-injurious behaviors. The self-injurious behaviors (hand-to-head, hand-to-jaw, hand-to-face) and loud vocalizations were targeted. Two types of sessions, enriched environment and instructor controlled preferred stimuli, were alternated throughout the…

It is argued that challenging behavior can be better understood if a correlational analysis (looking for correlations between behavior occurrence and other variables) is used in addition to functional analysis. A case example is provided of a man whose aggressive outbursts were negatively correlated with trips out of his unit. (Contains…