Jonathan Tarbox

Controlled Evaluation of the Effects of Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy on the Behavior of 16 Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders

Hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) has been used to treat individuals with autism. However, few studies of its effectiveness have been completed. The current study examined the effects of 40 HBOT sessions at 24% oxygen at 1.3 ATA on 11 topographies of directly observed behavior. Five replications of multiple baselines were completed across a total of 16 participants with autism spectrum disorders. No consistent effects were observed across any group or within any individual participant, demonstrating that HBOT was not an effective treatment for the participants in this study. This study represents the first relatively large-scale controlled study evaluating the effects of HBOT at the level of the individual participant, on a wide array of behaviors.

A review of research on procedures for teaching safety skills to persons with developmental disabilities

Safety skills are an important but often neglected area of training for persons with developmental disabilities (DD). The present study reviewed the literature on teaching safety skills to persons with DD. Safety skills involve a variety of behaviors such as knowing how to cross the street or what to do in case of a house fire. A number of studies have been conducted on teaching these skills to individuals with DD. The studies reviewed have varying degrees of success and demonstrate varying degrees of generalization, but the general finding has been that prompting, reinforcement, and role-playing are effective teaching procedures across a variety of participants, skills, and settings.

Parent-Implemented Procedural Modification of Escape Extinction in the Treatment of Food Selectivity in a Young Child with Autism

Fool selectivity is characterized by the consumption of an inadequate variety of foods. The effectiveness of behavioral treatment procedures, particularly nonremoval of the spoon, is well validated by research. The role of parents in the treatment of feeding disorders and the feasibility of behavioral procedures for parent implementation in the home has not been investigated extensively. In this study, a procedural variation of escape extinction was used to treat the food selectivity of a young child with autism. Treatment occurred in the childs home and all procedures were implemented by his mother. At the conclusion of treatment, the child independently consumed all foods presented in regular family meals within an appropriate time period.

Rule-Governed Behavior: Teaching a Preliminary Repertoire of Rule-Following to Children with Autism.

Rule-governed behavior is generally considered an integral component of complex verbal repertoires but has rarely been the subject of empirical research. In particular, little or no previous research has attempted to establish rule-governed behavior in individuals who do not already display the repertoire. This study consists of two experiments that evaluated multiple exemplar training procedures for teaching a simple component skill, which may be necessary for developing a repertoire of rule-governed behavior. In both experiments, children with autism were taught to respond to simple rules that specified antecedents and the behaviors that should occur in their presence. In the first study, participants were taught to respond to rules containing “if/then” statements, where the antecedent was specified before the behavior. The second experiment was a replication and extension of the first. It involved a variation on the manner in which rules were presented. Both experiments eventually demonstrated generalization to novel rules for all participants; however variations to the standard procedure were required for several participants. Results suggest that rule-following can be analyzed and taught as generalized operant behavior and implications for future research are discussed.

CHEWING GUM AS A TREATMENT FOR RUMINATION IN A CHILD WITH AUTISM

Rumination involves regurgitation of previously ingested food, rechewing the food, and reswallowing it. In the current study, a child with autism displayed chronic rumination, resulting in the decay and subsequent removal of several teeth. After several treatments failed, including thickened liquids and starch satiation, the participant was taught to chew gum. His rumination decreased significantly when gum was made available. Results suggest that access to chewing gum may be an effective treatment for rumination in some individuals.

USE OF CHAINING TO INCREASE COMPLEXITY OF ECHOICS IN CHILDREN WITH AUTISM

Echoics are a critical target of language intervention for children with autism, because a well-established echoic repertoire on the part of the child allows the clinician to use vocal modeling as a flexible, low-effort prompting procedure during teaching. In this study, we implemented a chaining procedure to increase the complexity of echoics in 2 children with autism and 1 child with developmental delay. The procedure was effective for all 3 participants, and gains were maintained after treatment was withdrawn in most cases.

A Brief History of Functional Analysis and Applied Behavior Analysis

The history of functional analysis, as both a concept and a procedure, can be traced back to the earliest days of the discipline of applied behavior analysis (ABA) and even to the earliest days of basic research in behavior analysis that formed the foundation for ABA. Indeed, it is not unreasonable to state that the history of functional analysis is inextricably linked to the history of the discipline of ABA. The general discipline of ABA and the concepts and methods of functional analysis have been built upon the conceptual foundation of operant conditioning, and as advancements have been made in the basic and conceptual arenas of behavior analysis, new refinements have been made in the area of application.

EVALUATION OF A MULTICOMPONENT INTERVENTION FOR DIURNAL BRUXISM IN A YOUNG CHILD WITH AUTISM

Bruxism, forceful grinding of ones teeth together, can produce destructive outcomes such as wear on the teeth and damaged gums and bone structures. The current study implemented a multicomponent intervention that consisted of vocal and physical cues to decrease rates of bruxism. A partial component analysis suggested that the vocal cue was only effective at decreasing levels of bruxism when paired with a simultaneous physical cue.

TEACHING CHILDREN WITH AUTISM TO SEEK HELP WHEN LOST IN PUBLIC

Children with autism may not develop safety skills (e.g., help-seeking behaviors) without explicit teaching. One potentially hazardous situation is when a child with autism becomes separated from caregivers in a retail establishment or other public setting. The purpose of this study was to evaluate a treatment package (rules, role playing, and praise) delivered in the natural environment for teaching 3 boys with autism to seek assistance from store employees when they became lost. Treatment was effective, and help-seeking behaviors generalized to untrained stores for all participants.

Early Detection of Autism Spectrum Disorders

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) now estimates that 1 out of every 110 children aged 8 or below have an autism spectrum disorder (ASD; Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring Network, 2009). The CDC has labeled this increase a significant public health concern and with increased prevalence, the need for effective intervention is greater than ever before. The research on treatment of ASD has revealed that early intensive behavioral intervention (EIBI) is highly effective.