Data Bases • Custom Term Papers • Free Term Papers • Free Research Papers • Free Essays • Free Book Reports • Plagiarism? Links • Top 100 Term Paper Sites • Top 25 Essay Sites • Top 50 Essay Sites • Search 97,000 Papers @ DirectEssays.com • Search 101,000 Papers @ ExampleEssays.com • Search 90,000 Papers @ MegaEssays.com Free Essays • Term Paper Sites • Chuck III's Free Essays • Free College Essays • TermPaperSites.com • My Term Papers • Get Free Essays • Essay World • Planet Papers	Search Lots of Essays Back to Subjects - Psychology Behavioral Treatments in Autism Behavioral Treatments in Autism B. Noncontingent Access to Preferred Stimulus Through the years since Kanner first described infantile autism, much research has amassed on different methods of treating those diagnosed with autism and the various deficits and excesses they possess. As the 1960’s began, the learning theory approach to treatment gained prominence and researchers used the principles of operant learning theory to develop new behavioral treatment techniques. Behavioral excesses and deficits were viewed as operant and controlled by environmental consequences and so modification of such consequences could change the behavior excesses and deficits. As the 1970’s arrived there was an increase in the amount of research in behavioral treatment of autism with a more focused approach to target behaviors and an increase in sophisticated behavioral techniques (Matson, Benavidez, Compton, Paclawskyj & Baglio, 1996). This has been an area of intense research and many children have benefited as a result of the developments. However, each method has its limitations and is not always significantly effective. It is said that autism is uncritical thinking dominated by fantasies that have little or no relation to reality; the gratification of wishes and desires in imagination (Goldenson, 1970). Behavioral approaches to treating autism must account for the different levels of awareness if they are to effectively change the sometimes devastating behaviors of autistic people. Autism is a spectrum disorder with a wide range of symptoms and degrees of impairment. A person with autism lives for the most part in an isolated world unaware of the impact their behavior has on the immediate environment. Even though some may be high functioning, the majority (around 70-75%) has some amount of associated learning disabilities and about 50% score below 50 on the IQ scale. When there are profound cognitive impairments, adequate speech development is not likely, and additionally the incidence of aberrant behavior increases (Howlin, 1996). Aberrant behaviors are behavioral excesses that interfere with interaction opportunities within an individual’s environment (Matson, et al., 1996). Another high impacting area of deficiency is socialization skills. This area includes decreased responding to verbal initiations of others, inappropriate affect or facial expression during communicative interactions, eye contact and preservation on the same topic even when cues are given by the partner for a topic shift (Koegel, & Frea, 1993). Social skill impairment has some relation to the language impairment. Expressive and receptive language difficulties occur in a high percentage of autistic individuals. Difficulties in expressing thoughts and ideas can lead to outbursts of anxiety, aggression, and self-injurious behavior in those with low ability and therefore it is often incorporated into treatment approaches for several areas (Howlin, 1998). Treatment techniques vary widely depending on the target behavior and desired outcome. In dealing with aberrant behavior, if the behavior is extreme and destructive, then a quick end to the behavior is desired. It has been found that aversive procedures in which punishment was administered contingent on emission of the target behavior rapidly decrease aberrant behaviors. This has been criticized as unethical. Critics have tested the effectiveness of nonaversive procedures and found them to be as effective in non-life-threatening behaviors (Matson, et al., 1996). One such effective method is that of noncontingent access to preferred stimuli. In one study researchers found that presenting an autistic individual with multiple predetermined sets of preferred stimuli or rotating the sets decreased the occurrence of self-injurious 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 treatment approach, careful consideration must be taken to obtain adequate information about the abilities and limitations of the autistic child (Howlin, 1998). This can be done using a wide assortment of assessing tools such as cognition tests. Once this is accomplished the causes and functions of the behavior must be assessed relative to the individual and the particular situation in which the target behavior occurs. As no two people exhibit identical behaviors in the same situation or for the same reason and no single person may engage in the same behavior for the same reason in different environments, it is extremely important to identify the events occurring prior to and following after each behavior occurrence as well as the situational circumstances involved. This is often accomplished using a technique called functional analysis (Howlin, 1998). It is considered a “most powerful tool” by Matson (1996). The environment that will be used in presenting the treatment must be carefully considered. If a proper and complete assessment has been done then identifying the environment most conducive to success of the method should be fairly easy to accomplish. If the proper environment is not arranged then the target behavior, treatment goal and application of treatment may be affected. While any treatment that has a significant effect on its target behavior is considered successful, the treatments that have generalization capabilities are more highly sought though it is one of the more difficult challenges in the teaching of autistic persons (Matson, et al.). Behavior modification through the use of aversive stimuli, non-aversive stimuli, noncontingent access to preferred stimuli, self-management and incidental teaching has established itself as a highly effective method of treating behaviors in autism when proper evaluation is accomplished. Bibliography: References DeLeon, Iser G., Anders, Bonita M., Rodriguez-Catter, Vanessa, & Neidert, Pamela L. (2000). The effects of noncontingent access to single- versus multiple-stimulus sets on self-injurious behavior. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 33, 623-626. Goldenson, Robert M. (1970). Autism (autistic thinking). In The encyclopedia of human behavior (Vol. 1, pp. 135). Garden City, New York: Doubleday & Company, Inc. Howlin, Patricia, (1998). Practitioner review: psychological and educational treatments for autism. Journal of Child Psychology & Psychiatry, 39, 307-322. Koegel, L. K., Koegel, R. L., Hurley, C., & Frea, W. D. (1992). Improving social skills and disruptive behavior in children with autism through self-management. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis,25, 341-354. Koegel, Robert L., & Frea, William D. (1993). Treatment of social behavior in autism through the modification of pivotal social skills. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 26, 369-377. Matson, Johnny L., Benavidez, Debra A., Compton, Lesley Stabinsky, Paclawskyj, Theodosia, & Baglio, Chris (1996). Behavioral treatment of autistic persons: a review of research from 1980 to the present. Research in Developmental Disabilities, 17, 433-465. - Word Count: 1200
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