Using communication and toleration training to treat food selectivity of an adolescent with autism and severe problem behavior

Document Type

Thesis

College

College of Arts and Sciences

Department

Psychology

Degree

M.S. Applied Behavior Analysis

Date Completed

2018

First Committee Member

Hanley, Gregory

Second Committee Member

Ahearn, William

Third Committee Member

Bourret, Jason

Abstract

"The present study describes an assessment and treatment model to address food refusal and selectivity in persons with autism who also engage in severe problem behavior. Interviews were used to identify foods to incorporate into preference analyses and to identify the possible reinforcement contingencies that influenced food refusal. These results were then used to design a functional analysis of food refusal. The synthesized reinforcement contingency shown to influence food refusal in the analysis was then arranged to strengthen more appropriate food refusal behaviors. A contingency-based delay fading procedure with a differential reinforcement without full extinction procedure was then used to shape consumption of the non-preferred foods without evoking severe problem behavior. By the close of the study, the participant used a utensil to consume a meal consisting of three bites of each of four non-preferred foods from the same plate. The results suggest that these procedures may be useful for treating food refusal and selectivity without evoking severe problem behavior in people diagnosed with autism who engage in severe problem behavior."

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