Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder may engage in repetitive vocal behaviors which interfere with a structured environment and social inclusion. If untreated, these vocal behaviors maintain into adulthood potentially impeding gainful employment and independent living. This analysis specifically focused on treatments available for presumed or functionally determined automatically reinforced repetitive vocal behaviors, also known as vocal stereotypy. For this review, a systematic keyword search of the literature identified 66 articles and a Tau-U measure of effect size was calculated for 34 eligible studies in order to determine impact of interventions on vocal stereotypy. Of the single-component interventions assessed, three interventions demonstrated a very large effect: interactive activity (0.94), self-management (0.89), and response interruption and redirection (interrupted measurement, 0.86). Additionally, 92% of treatment packages reached a very large effect (0.85-1.00), all of which included stimulus control and/or response cost intervention components. Theoretical and practical applications are discussed, as well as implications for future research.

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Teachers of students with emotional and behavioral disorders often struggle with increasing student participation while maintaining a positive classroom environment. Active student responding (ASR) occurs when a student says, writes, or engages in some observable response following a question. This article identifies and describes three electronic approaches to ASR and provides teachers with tips for effective implementation with students with emotional and behavioral disorders.

Special educators are often considered the experts in their school when it comes to developing functional behavior assessments (FBA) and behavior intervention plans (BIP), yet rarely are they trained much beyond basic antecedents, behaviors, and consequences (ABC). This column discusses concepts that will expand special education professionals’ knowledge to make better decisions regarding interventions for the students they serve. Specifically, the focus is on motivating operations (MO) and function-based interventions and the implications of these on behavior. Knowledge of the concept of MOs can enhance a teacher’s ability to provide evidence-based interventions and more fully developed behavioral interventions for students in their purview.

Vocal stereotypy (VS) is often observed in individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) which at high rates can interfere with socialization or functioning in structured settings. There are multiple effective interventions available; yet, many procedures target the complete omission of the behavior or are only assessed at short intervals, making it unclear how they will generalize in applied settings. One intervention yet to be assessed as an individual intervention for automatically reinforced VS is differential reinforcement of low rates of behavior (DRL). In the present study, a functional analysis determined that the VS of two female adolescents with ASD was maintained by automatic reinforcement. A DRL procedure was implemented which incorporated: (a) a specified interval for reinforcement; (b) the behavioral expectations; (c) the permissible instances of VS within the interval; (d) learner feedback; and (e) the reset/non-reset aspect of the schedule. As the targeted behavior decreased across sessions, the DRL interval was systematically increased in order to thin out the schedule of reinforcement. The intervention reduced VS and increased untargeted task engagement for both participants. Applied and theoretical implications of the study as well as social validity, limitations, and future research are discussed.