Background: There is much interest in the use and prevention of unnecessary restrictive behavioural procedures; however, accurate estimates of their use are lacking. The Healthcare Commission and Commission for Social Care Inspection (2007) recently reported such data from a large sample of units administered by the National Health Service (NHS).…

The current study investigates the comparative effects of sensory-integration therapy and behavioral interventions on rates of self-injurious behavior (SIB) in a 9-year-old boy with diagnosis of autism. A functional analysis was conducted to identify the variables maintaining the self-injurious behavior. This analysis demonstrated that SIB was…

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a family-centered positive behavior support approach to the amelioration of food refusal behavior in a child with autism. The study was conducted with the child and his family in their home. It employed an empirical case study design with one meal routine: snack time. Following…

A sexual assault intervention was designed using applicable research from social psychology (i.e., social norms). Undergraduate men were randomly assigned to the experimental intervention or an active control condition. Attitudinal and behavioral data were collected preintervention, post-intervention and at a one month follow-up. Significant…

Every day administrators and teachers issue increasing numbers of disciplinary referrals that document problematic behaviors in the classroom. When placed in in-school suspension (ISS) because of disciplinary reasons students lose valuable academic instruction time and their academic achievement is negatively impacted. ISS produces little, if any,…

Many health promotion interventions have been developed and tested in recent years. Practitioners and researchers must continue to explore how various program delivery modalities can be used effectively and efficiently to optimize program outcomes. A sample of 6,055 participants was drawn from 10 large employers. Participants self-selected into a…

Many schools are developing a continuum of services and supports for students who may be struggling in school, whether through a response to intervention (RTI) model or a schoolwide positive behavior supports (SWPBS) model. Study results suggest that schools will not be effective if they focus solely on identifying and responding to student…

This study examined the use of an antecedent-based intervention to reduce the vocal stereotypy of a student diagnosed with Autism within the general education classroom. The student displayed frequent nonfunctional speech and disruptive vocal sounds. An antecedent-based intervention, involving the use of qualitatively different cards--to cue the…

An empirically-guided program designed to empower at-risk youth through increased knowledge of depression and prevention resources was developed and implemented. Ninety-three court-involved adolescents participated in the "Moods Matter" project, a four-part psycho-educational group experience rooted in the principles of Rational Emotive Behavior…

The present study examined whether Snoezelen and Stimulus Preference environments have differential effects on disruptive and pro-social behaviors in adults with profound mental retardation and autism. In N = 27 adults these target behaviors were recorded for a total of 20 sessions using both multi-sensory rooms. Three comparison groups were…

Objective: Despite proven efficacy of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) for treating eating disorders with binge eating as the core symptom, few patients receive CBT in clinical practice. Our blended efficacy-effectiveness study sought to evaluate whether a manual-based guided self-help form of CBT (CBT-GSH), delivered in 8 sessions in a health…

Following terrorist events, teachers and nonteaching school personnel are important in helping children recover, yet little is known about their willingness to assist with this. We surveyed 399 employees from a Washington, D.C.-area school district following terror attacks (September 11, 2001, attacks; sniper shootings) about their exposure,…

Objective: In a randomized clinical trial with 111 families of parents with a history of major depressive disorder (86% mothers, 14% fathers; 86% Caucasian, 5% African-American, 3% Hispanic, 1% American Indian or Alaska Native, 4% mixed ethnicity), changes in adolescents' (mean age = 11 years; 42% female, 58% male) coping and parents' parenting…

Researchers have consistently shown the effectiveness of functional communication training (FCT) to address both the communication and behavioral needs of children on the autism spectrum. The three steps of FCT include completing a functional behavior assessment, identifying a communication response, and developing a treatment plan. In addition,…

Video-self modeling (VSM) is an effective but underused instructional strategy for youth on the autism spectrum. The authors present VSM in the context of strength-based educational programming for youth on the autism spectrum. The authors summarize research studies investigating VSM with youth on the autism spectrum in school settings and discuss…