Pamela J. White

ENHANCING THE EFFECTIVENESS OF A PLAY INTERVENTION BY ABOLISHING THE REINFORCING VALUE OF STEREOTYPY: A PILOT STUDY

An alternating treatments design compared one condition in which a child with autism was allowed to engage in stereotypy freely prior to the intervention (abolishing operation component) to a second condition without the free-access period. Levels of stereotypy and problem behavior were lower and levels of functional play were higher in the condition with the abolishing operation component. These data provide preliminary support for the use of abolishing operations in interventions to increase the play skills of children with autism.

Treatment of elopement in individuals with developmental disabilities: A systematic review

We reviewed studies involving the treatment of elopement in individuals with developmental disabilities. Systematic searches of three electronic databases, journals, and reference lists identified 10 studies meeting the inclusion criteria. These studies were evaluated in terms of: (a) participants, (b) procedures used to assess elopement, (c) intervention procedures, (d) results of the intervention, and (e) certainty of evidence. Across the 10 studies, intervention was provided to a total of 53 participants aged 3-47 years. Assessment procedures included anecdotal staff reports, participant interviews, direct observation, and modified analog functional analysis. Intervention approaches included differential reinforcement, extinction, functional communication training, response blocking, non-contingent reinforcement, shaping, and scheduled exercise. Positive outcomes were reported in 80% of the reviewed studies. The evidence base suggests that function-based assessment (e.g. functional analysis procedures) and function-based treatments (e.g. functional communication training) may be most effective in the treatment of elopement in this population. Directions for future research are offered.

Ethnicity Reporting Practices for Empirical Research in Three Autism-Related Journals.

This review examines ethnicity reporting in three autism-related journals (Autism, Focus on Autism and Other Developmental Disabilities, and Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders) over a 6-year period. A comprehensive multistep search of articles is used to identify ethnicity as a demographic variable in these three journals. Articles that identified research participants’ ethnicity were further analyzed to determine the impact of ethnicity as a demographic variable on findings of each study. The results indicate that ethnicity has not been adequately reported in these three autism related journals even though previous recommendations have been made to improve inadequacies of descriptive information of research participants in autism research (Kistner and Robbins in J Autism Dev Disord 16:77–82, 1986). Implications for the field of autism spectrum disorders are discussed in addition to further recommendations for future research.

Treatment of bruxism in individuals with developmental disabilities: A systematic review

We reviewed studies involving the treatment of bruxism (i.e., teeth clenching or teeth grinding) in individuals with developmental disabilities. Systematic searches of electronic databases, journals, and reference lists identified 11 studies meeting the inclusion criteria. These studies were evaluated in terms of: (a) participants, (b) procedures used to assess bruxism, (c) intervention procedures, (d) results of the intervention, and (e) certainty of evidence. Across the 11 studies, intervention was provided to a total of 19 participants aged 4-43 years. Assessment procedures included dental screening under sedation and interviews with caregivers. Intervention approaches included prosthodontics, dental surgery, injection of botulinum toxin-a, behavior modification, music therapy, and contingent massage. Positive outcomes were reported in 82% of the reviewed studies. Overall, the evidence base is extremely limited and no definitive statements regarding treatment efficacy can be made. However, behavior modification and dental or medical treatment options (e.g., prosthodontics) seem to be promising treatment approaches. At present, a two-step assessment process, consisting of dental screening followed by behavioral assessment, can be recommended.

Examination of an antecedent communication intervention to reduce tangibly maintained challenging behavior: A controlled analog analysis

We examined the influence of an antecedent communication intervention on challenging behavior for three students with developmental disorders. Students were taught to request tangible items that were identified as reinforcers for challenging behavior in a prior functional analysis. Individual participant multielement and reversal designs were used to compare the effects of the antecedent communication intervention versus a no antecedent communication intervention condition. Immediately following the antecedent manipulations students were exposed to the tangible condition of the functional analysis. Results indicate that the antecedent communication intervention reduced challenging behavior in the subsequent tangible test condition for all three students. The importance of examining antecedent interventions to treat challenging behavior from a function analytic perspective is discussed.

Preference for language of instruction of an English language learner with autism

Abstract Objective: To use a preference assessment to identify the preferred language of instruction (English or Spanish) for a child with autism living in a Spanish-speaking home and receiving school services in English only. Methods: We used a concurrent chains method to evaluate the participant’s preference for English or Spanish instruction. Colored microswitches represented English instruction, Spanish instruction and no instruction (control). Switch presses resulted in instruction and reinforcement in either English or Spanish, or no instruction and no reinforcement. After session 10, switches were reprogrammed to control for color bias. Results: The participant chose Spanish instruction most frequently. Conclusions: The participant preferred to receive instruction in Spanish. These data support previous research indicating the importance of child preference when individualizing educational programs for children with autism and that language of instruction is an important variable when working with children with autism who experience multiple languages across home and school.