Association for Behavior Analysis International

Stereotypic behaviors are common in individuals with autism. Interventions to reduce stereotypy are often sought as stereotypy can be socially stigmatizing and interfere with the acquisition of other appropriate behaviors. For many individuals with autism, reducing stereotypy can be challenging as it is often maintained by automatic reinforcement. The specific reinforcer can vary based on the type of stereotypy and can often be difficult to identify, limiting replacement behaviors that may be targeted. This symposium presents four studies evaluating interventions to reduce stereotypy in children with autism. The first two studies evaluated the effects of noncontingent access to music on vocal stereotypy, examining different characteristics of the music used. The first study evaluated high-and low-preference music, and the second study evaluated different genres of music. The third study evaluated the effects of a self-managed differential reinforcement of other behavior (DRO) on various forms of stereotypy. The final study evaluated the use of a stimulus control procedure on the reduction of stereotypy.

Vocal stereotypy is a behavior observed in individuals diagnosed with autism and typically presents as episodes of acontextual repetitive vocal sounds, words, or phrases. Previous research has evaluated noncontingent access to music to reduce vocal stereotypy; however, little information is typically given about the type of music used. As such, the current study evaluated the effects of noncontingent access to different genres of music on vocal stereotypy in three young male children. Classical, pop, and rock music were evaluated. Preference of each genre was also assessed to identify possible correlations between preference and effectiveness. Noncontingent access to music was effective in reducing rates of vocal stereotypy. Differential effects based on genre were observed, and pop music was found to be most effective.

Individuals diagnosed with autism may engage in stereotypy, or repetitive patterns of behavior, throughout their day. Stereotypy may interfere with social and learning opportunities, affecting the individuals inclusion in typical settings; therefore, it is important to implement procedures that will reduce stereotypy. It can also be beneficial in an applied setting to have the individual manage his or her own intervention, allowing the clinician or caregiver to attend to other tasks. As such, the purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of self-management of a momentary differential reinforcement of other behavior procedure on stereotypy in children with autism. In this study, children were taught to independently self-manage a momentary differential reinforcement of other behavior procedure. The results demonstrated that upon implementation of the self-management procedures, a reduction in stereotypy was observed from baseline to the self-management condition as well as during follow-up. In addition, fidelity of the implementation of self-management procedures remained high. The results of this study support the use of self-management of a momentary differential reinforcement of other behavior procedure in applied settings to limit clinicians and caregivers need for continuous monitoring of the individuals behavior.