ious behavior (DeLeon, Anders, Rodriguez-Catter, & Neidert, 2000). Another method in modifying aberrant behaviors is to increase the amount of social skills as alternative behaviors. In identifying pivotal behaviors, some researchers have been able to modify one target behavior and have it result in collateral changes in other behaviors. Koegel, Koegel, Hurley, & Frea (1992) reported that teaching an autistic person to respond to verbal initiations from others on a regular basis collaterally decreased the level of disruptive behavior. For some individuals the technique of self-management has been shown to be highly effective. It requires teaching of appropriate and inappropriate behavior identification as well as recording methods. It has been used to increase social skills while decreasing disruptive behavior (Matson, et al., 1996). In social skills it has been shown that some behaviors taught generalize well to other untreated behaviors (Koegel, 1993), however, it has proved more difficult to do so in the treatment of language difficulties. A technique that has been shown to accomplish this is incidental teaching in which the teaching of expressive language occurs in natural interactions with the teacher (Matson, et al.). While this is only a sampling of researched methods, these are effective.If behavior modification is going to be effective in the treatment of behaviors in autistic children, much consideration must be given as to the cognitive ability of the child, the environment of the treatment area, and what behaviors need to be treated. In evaluating the usefulness of different behavior modification techniques in treating autism, it is important to understand that each technique is dependent on the level of functioning of the autistic person. Many methods have failed to show effectiveness in research largely due to the incomplete assessment of the individual, the behaviors and the environment. In developing a treatme...
