Association for Behavior Analysis International

Most children with developmental disabilities engage in stereotypy, which is an invariant and repetitive behavior that typically persists in the absence of social consequences. From a clinical standpoint, reducing stereotypy may be important because engaging in the behavior may interfere with learning, adaptive behavior, and social inclusion. Thus, the purpose of the symposium is to present the results of recent studies examining the effects of multiple interventions designed to reduce engagement in stereotypy in children with developmental disabilities. The first presentation will discuss the influence of different data collection procedures on the perceived outcomes of treatments for vocal stereotypy. The second presentation will examine the effects of noncontingent social interaction on immediate and subsequent engagement in stereotypy. The third presentation will examine the effects of a multi-component intervention across two settings. The final presentation will focus on the results of a pilot study on using behavior analytic research strategies to examine the effects of an alternative approach to treat stereotypy. Together, the presentations will provide an overview of recent research on the treatment of stereotypy in children with developmental disabilities.

The type of data analysis procedure used to measure a target behavior may directly influence the perceived treatment outcomes. In the present study, we examined the influence of different data collection procedures on the outcomes of two commonly used treatments on the vocal stereotypy of two children with autism. In Study 1, we compared the use of an interrupted and uninterrupted data collection procedure to measure vocal stereotypy during the implementation of response interruption and redirection (RIRD). The results showed that the interrupted data collection procedure overestimated the effectiveness of RIRD. In Study 2, we examined the influence of different data collection procedures on the interpretation of the relative effects of two different treatments for vocal stereotypy. Specifically, we compared interrupted and uninterrupted data collection procedures during the implementation of RIRD and noncontingent reinforcement (NCR) as a treatment for vocal stereotypy. The results showed that as in Study 1, the interrupted data collection procedure overestimated the effectiveness of RIRD; however, this effect was not apparent with NCR. These findings suggest that different types of data analysis can influence the perceived success of a treatment.

In a recent review of interventions for vocal stereotypy, Lanovaz and Sladeczek (2012) noted that several studies used matched stimulation from toys or music to decrease immediate engagement in vocal stereotypy for children with autism without producing a subsequent increase. A potential limitation of providing continuous access to music or musical toys is that engagement with the preferred stimulation may compete with academic tasks, social engagement, or both to the same extent as engagement in vocal stereotypy. A possible alternative to providing noncontingent access to music or musical toy is to provide noncontingent attention. This study evaluated the effects of noncontingent social interaction (SI) on immediate and subsequent engagement in vocal stereotypy and motor stereotypy for 3 children with autism. Results show that SI (a) decreased immediate engagement vocal stereotypy for all 3 participants without increasing subsequent engagement for any participant and (b) increased immediate engagement in motor stereotypy for 1 participant, decreased immediate engagement in motor stereotypy for 2 participants, but did not increase subsequent engagement in motor stereotypy for any participant. Some clinical implications and limitations of the findings are discussed.

Currently, there exists many unsubstantiated autism treatments (Matson, Adams, Williams, & Rieske, 2013). One such intervention is the Snug Vest, a recently-developed inflatable vest fashioned to provide deep pressure to the person wearing it. However, there is as of yet, no published peer-reviewed research on the Snug Vest. Nonetheless, the developers of the Snug Vest claim that their product helps remediate repetitive behaviors. Given the absence of supporting research, the purpose of the study was to test the developers claims by examining the effects of the Snug Vest on stereotypy using behavior analytic research methodology. We are currently mid-way through a study employing a multielement design to assess the effects of the Snug Vest on the duration of different topographies of stereotypy in which four children are participating in (a) an extended no-interaction condition, (b) wearing the Snug Vest deflated, and (c) wearing the Snug Vest inflated. Although data collection is still in progress, our hypothesis is that the Snug Vest will fail to clinically remediate stereotypy.