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Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are defined, in part, by restricted inflexible behavior. At the Behavior Analysis Research Clinic at the University of Florida, Dr. Vollmer has been collaborating with colleagues and students to evaluate such behavior in a range of contexts. One, they have compared the behavior in children with ASD to typically developing children using arbitrary play activities. Although both groups showed restricted interests, the ASD children were far less likely to switch activity upon request to do so. Two, they have extended their work on restricted inflexible behavior to socially relevant activity such as restricted food interests and restricted interest in sedentary activity such as video games, videos, and computer surfing. They are examining shaping procedures to increase variability in responding. Three, they have evaluated repetitive behavior disorders such as stereotypy and severe self-injury. They are currently investigating emergency treatment procedures for situations when a single instance of problem behavior may be too dangerous. Results from this collection of studies will be presented and discussed.
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