Three functional assessment methods were compared with four adults with severe/profound mental retardation and stereotypic behavior patterns. The results of the antecedents, behavior, and consequences observation and the Motivation Assessment Scale indicated a sensory function of the stereotypic behavior for all subjects, whereas functional…

Assessed role of social support in outcome of child management training (CMT) for single parents and assessed impact of adjunctive ally support training (AST) on treatment outcome. Single parents (n=22) with oppositional or conduct-disordered child received either CMT or CMT plus AST. Both groups improved, with changes maintained at followup; AST…

The following stages in planning a token economy with students having behavior problems are discussed: (1) identifying target behaviors; (2) specifying and selecting reinforcers; (3) identifying token types and schedules; (4) planning token distribution and redemption; (5) initiating and implementing the token economy system; and (6) planning…

A multicomponent intervention to change problem behavior, which prevented community integration of three adolescents with autism, was evaluated. The intervention (implemented in a supermarket setting) included choice making, embedding, functional communication training, building tolerance for delay of reinforcement, and presenting discriminative…

A behavioral consultation approach was effectively used to reduce problem behaviors in 2 field studies with 3 students (ages 10-14) having severe or profound mental retardation and their teachers. Intervention involved extinction of inappropriate behaviors, reinforcement of appropriate play behaviors, and teaching verbal skills functionally…

Positive reinforcement (food) presented both regularly and variably was effectively used to reduce self-stimulatory behavior in a 12-year-old profoundly retarded visually impaired male over a 2-month period. The improved behavior was maintained after the summer break and into the new school year. (DB)

A treatment package consisting of differential reinforcement of other behavior (DRO), token fines, and prompted relaxation was used to reduce the agitated-disruptive behavior of a young adult with autism and mental retardation living in a community group home. DRO procedures were partially implemented by a peer with Down syndrome. Baseline rates…

The food refusal of a 6-year-old girl with autism and destructive behavior was treated using stimulus fading, reinforcement, and escape extinction. Intake increased, and compliance with prompting procedures remained relatively stable despite the increased consumption requirement. (Author/CR)

The efficacy of guided compliance and high-probability instructional sequences was compared with two young children with disabilities and noncompliant behavior. Levels of compliance were higher under guided compliance than under high-probability instructional sequences. Parents were able to learn to implement treatments accurately and reported…

A study examined the effects of a social-story intervention on the social behaviors of an 8-year-old girl with autism who attended an inclusive second-grade classroom. Inappropriate social interactions during lunch decreased by approximately 50% from the first day to the last day of the social-story intervention. (Author/CR)

A study of six parents of children with autism examined overall management of television and video usage in their homes. Findings indicate the children's need for repetitive video viewing caused problems inside and outside the home and that parents managed usage largely on a situation-by-situation basis without any long-term strategy. (Contains…

The frequency of occurrence of targeted environmental events during both unstructured and structured descriptive analyses conducted with two children with severe mental retardation was compared. Results showed that procedural modifications employed during the structured descriptive analysis increased the frequency of occurrence for most targeted…

A study evaluated the utility of classroom-based functional and adjunctive assessments of problem behaviors for two adolescents with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and comorbid oppositional defiant disorder. Classroom interventions derived from information obtained during assessments resulted in reductions in problem behaviors. Teacher…

Extinction effects were evaluated in a multiple baseline across behaviors design with 2 boys (ages 7 and 8) with disabilities after just one of several target problem behaviors was observed during a functional analysis. Other target behaviors emerged as extinction was introduced sequentially across all problem behaviors. (Contains three…

This article reviews features of behavioral support plans that teams should consider as they develop positive, effective responses to problem behavior, including investing in prevention occurrences of problem behavior and developing instructional objectives, avoiding rewarding problem behaviors, rewarding positive behaviors, and knowing what to do…