Intervention to Reduce Inappropriate Verbal Behaviours in a Child with Autism
Emi Visani, Federica Berardo
Reducing inappropriate behaviours and increasing appropriate behaviours is one of the main goals to allow people with neurodevelopmental disorders to participate in social settings, build relationships, and increase their independence. In this study, the effectiveness of an intervention package composed of a behavioural contract, low-rate differential reinforcement (DRL) and functional communication training (FCT). was evaluated for decreasing socially inappropriate verbal behaviours (insults) and increasing socially appropriate verbal behaviours in a 9-year-old child diagnosed with autism. A changing criterion design, with pre- and post-probes, was used in the study. We set as a dependent variable the number of inappropriate verbal behaviours and the number of appropriate verbal behaviours in the presence of frustration-related antecedents, while the implementation of a behavioural contract, a DRL procedure for decreasing inappropriate verbal behaviours, and the implementation of FCT in order to reinforce alternative appropriate verbal behaviours emitted by the child were set as an independent variable. The results show the effectiveness of the intervention in reducing the frequency of inappropriate behaviours (insults). during the intervention phases; zero insults were recorded during the last intervention phase and they remained low during the post-probe. Furthermore, the study suggests the effectiveness of the FCT in increasing the number of appropriate behaviours related to the request for help.
Keywords
Inappropriate verbal behaviour, Socially appropriate behaviour, Behavioural contract, Differential reinforcement, Functional communication training.
