The analysis and treatment of vocal stereotypy in a child with autism

Abstract

This study examined procedures for the assessment and treatment of automatically reinforced vocal stereotypy of a 6-year-old girl with autism. Stimulus assessments were conducted to identify toys that were correlated with higher rates of vocal stereotypy and toys that were not. A concurrent operants assessment identified preferred stimuli (toys that produced auditory stimulation), which were then used as reinforcers for the non-occurrence of vocal stereotypy. A reversal design was used to compare the effects of a fixed time schedule of reinforcement (FT 1-min) to differential reinforcement for the non-occurrence of behavior (DRO) to reduce vocal stereotypy. Implementation of the FT schedule revealed no effect, whereas the DRO schedule led to a reduction in the target behavior during treatment sessions and across the school day. This study adds to the body of literature supporting the identification of matched stimuli to reduce non-socially mediated problem behavior.

Assessing and Treating Vocal Stereotypy in Children With Autism

“…This is similar to the findings of Taylor et al (2005), which imply that the sounds produced by stereotypic vocalizations are the operative sensory consequence that maintains stereotypy. However, the vibration produced by engaging in the vocalizations cannot be ruled out as a reinforcer.…”

“…It should be noted that access to dissimilar forms of sensory stimulation can also produce lower levels of stereotypy (e.g., Ahearn, Clark, DeBar, & Florentino, 2005;Vollmer, Marcus, & LeBlanc, 1994). Furthermore, Taylor et al (2005) found that providing contingent access to matched stimulation through a negative punishment contingency (i.e., differential reinforcement of other behavior) produced a low level of vocal stereotypy for a child with autism, but response-independent access to that stimulation was ineffective. Such differential reinforcement is also not always successful in decreasing stereotypic responding (e.g., Fellner, Laroche, & Sulzer-Azaroff, 1984).…”

“…This study focused on immediate echolalia, and the authors developed procedures for replacing the contextually inappropriate repetitions (or partial repetitions) of teacher-issued demands by children with autism with a more appropriate response (e.g., ''I don't know'' or a correct response to the question). Echolalic responses can also involve vocalizations that do not involve immediate or near-immediate repetitions of the vocalizations of others or do not bear a resemblance to words (e.g., Falcomata, Roane, Hovanetz, Kettering, & Keeney, 2004;Fay & Schuler, 1980;Lovaas et al, 1987;Prizant & Rydell, 1984;Taylor, Hoch, & Weissman, 2005). These vocalizations can vary in intensity, comprehensibility, and bout length, and whether they are echos of the vocalizations of others is often questionable.…”

A replication of the RIRD strategy to decrease vocal stereotypy in a student with autism

“…Functional analysis of vocal stereotypy in individuals with autism typically resulted in undifferentiated patterns between the behavior and the social environment in a majority of the reported studies (Ahearn et al, 2007;Graff, Lineman, Libby, & Ahearn, 1999;Kennedy et al, 2000;Taylor, Hoch, & Weissman, 2005). Although the majority of such studies concluded that the behaviors were maintained by sensoryrelated reinforcement, Kennedy and colleagues cautioned that the causes of stereotypy in individuals with are complex, and that it is less important to presume association between response and behavioral function for treatment purposes.…”

Effects of Nitrogen Treatments on Macro and Microelement Contents of Oil Sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) Seeds

“…Beside yield losses, excessive nitrogen treatments may also result in various environmental problems over agricultural fields (Grant, 2006). Among the inputs to be provided to improve plant yields, fertilizers constitute about 58% of such inputs (Taylor et al, 2005). Nitrogen is the mostly observed insufficiency in plant production, but it is an essential and yield-improving plant nutrient.…”