Association for Behavior Analysis International

The symposium includes a series of presentations on the effects of treating repetitive behaviors and perseverative interests on engagement in collateral behavior in individuals with autism spectrum disorders. For the first presentation, Camargo et al. will present a study in which abolishing operations for stereotypy produced by using behavioral indicators of satiation reduced engagement in stereotypy and increased engagement in group activities. Next, Watkins and Rapp will show how adding a response cost component to an environmental enrichment intervention may reduce engagement in stereotypy and also increase item engagement. Then, Lanovaz et al. will discuss the results of a study that examined the effects of noncontingent music on the effectiveness of prompts to increase functional play, which showed that in most cases, music facilitated or at least did not interfere with the intervention to increase play. Finally, Davenport et al. will present data on a study that paired perseverative interests with age appropriate toys to increase manding and decrease engagement in challenging behavior. Each presenter will discuss the results in terms of identifying and implementing interventions that reduces engagement in repetitive behavior while simultaneously producing desirable changes in collateral behavior in individuals with autism spectrum disorders.

Environmental enrichment (EE) has been shown effective at ameliorating stereotypy in some persons diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) but ineffective with others. The purpose of this study was to extend Keeney, Fisher, Adelinis, and Wilder (2000) and Falcomata, Roane, Hovanetz, Kettering, and Keeney (2004) by assessing the immediate and subsequent effects of EE as a stand-alone tactic and when combined with response cost (RC) for 6 participants diagnosed with ASD using a 2-component multiple-schedule design. Environmental enrichment failed to decrease any participant's targeted stereotypy to any clinical extent; however, when combined with RC, the two tactics in tandem decreased the immediate engagement in targeted stereotypy for 5 of 6 participants. Additionally, item engagement (a participant's interaction with an enriching stimulus) increased for 4 of 6 participants during RC. After the withdrawal of RC, increases in stereotypy were not observed for 4 of 5 participants. Some possible conceptualizations of the behavior changes produced are discussed.

In a previous study, we showed that noncontingent music may reduce vocal stereotypy and alter engagement in functional play in children with autism spectrum disorders. However, these changes in functional play were not necessarily socially significant or in the desired direction. In these cases, adding a prompting procedure for functional play may be necessary. Thus, we examined the immediate and subsequent effects of noncontingent music on vocal stereotypy and functional play during the implementation of prompting for appropriate play. Data collection is ongoing, but our preliminary results with the first3 participants suggest that noncontingent music reduced immediate engagement in vocal stereotypy and did not hinder the effects of prompting. Furthermore, noncontingent music may increase the immediate and subsequent effectiveness of prompting on functional play and reduce the number of prompts that need to be provided. The results will be discussed in terms of using noncontingent music to facilitate the implementation of interventions with children who display vocal stereotypy.

Children with autism frequently exhibit restrictive and repetitive patterns of behavior and interests. These perseverative interests may be stigmatizing and often complicate behavioral interventions. A 4-year-old boy with autism who perseverated on pictures of long narrow objects (e.g., telephone poles and tree trunks) participated in this study. During mand training, the participant would only request long and narrow objects or pictures of those objects. When age appropriate toys were used as mand targets the child engaged in challenging behavior and did not mand. This study investigated a pairing intervention designed to increase the child's preference for age appropriate toys. Anapplied behavior analysisdesign embedded within a multiple baseline design was used. Results showed an increase in manding for age appropriate toys and a decrease in challenging behavior during manding sessions involving those toys. Additionally, preference assessments conducted pre and post suggest an increase in the child's preference for age appropriate toys and parent ratings suggest the child was happier following intervention. Directions for future research involving ameliorating complications to behavioral interventions caused by perseverative interests are discussed.