The Autism Society Event and Education Recordings Archive

Stereotypic behavior has been found to occur in typically developing persons, individuals with disabilities and persons with autism. Some research suggests that it occurs more often in persons with autism than in other populations. Stereotypic behavior is typically, but not always, maintained by automatic reinforcement by the sensory consequences produced by engaging in it. A brief discussion of automatic reinforcement and the implication of it for treatment will be presented. A number of effective interventions have been developed, but stereotypy often persists as a problem when active treatment is not in place. However, given that stereotypic behavior is a preferred activity, serious consideration should be given to when and where engaging in such behavior is appropriate. Additionally, a person who engages in high levels of stereotypic behavior may have limited exposure to alternative activities that also produce sensory stimulation. In such cases, it may be productive to expose the person to other types of activities. Those that produce sensory stimulation similar to that produced by stereotypy often can effectively compete with stereotypy, but ultimately building a large repertoire of play/leisure skills is more advantageous. Such strategies will be discussed in the context of building functional skills.

One intervention for directly treating this problem that will be discussed extensively is response interruption/redirection. Many clinicians have promoted the use of redirection for stereotypy and other forms of problem behavior. However, the majority of the research on this technique has been gathered while treating severe self-injurious behavior. Though self-injury and stereotypy can both be maintained by sensory consequences, self-injury is very often maintained by social consequences. Thus, there is a specific need to investigate this treatment with stereotypic behavior. Dr. Ahearn and colleagues have been primarily focused on this endeavor for about 7 years, and both published and emerging findings will be presented.

Sometimes, effective treatment also produces appropriate behavior that can be fostered by natural or arranged contingencies; however, appropriate behavior must often be promoted more explicitly. Response interruption and redirection is a strategy that has been shown to be effective with this technique, often producing rapid results that then provide opportunities for fostering other skills. As previously mentioned, this presentation will discuss strategies for building functional skills and, when discussing interruption and redirection, a specific focus will be on promoting functional language. One teaching procedure that will be reviewed is direct instruction, which is often necessary for younger or lower functioning persons. This presentation will illustrate direct instruction in the context of verbal operant training.

Though there are many options available to educators and clinicians for addressing stereotypic behavior for individuals with autism spectrum disorders, more than one approach will often be necessary as each person with autism presents with a wide range of skills and challenges. Taking advantage of a child’s skills and capitalizing on strengths and preferences is critically important. On the other hand, some persons will have very little appropriate play and/or leisure skills, and significant time may need to be devoted to identifying preferred activities and teaching functional play skills. In this presentation Dr. Ahearn will review effective procedures for teaching play skills, such as providing specific play materials that promote functional engagement and compete with stereotypy. He will also discuss procedures for indirectly treating stereotypy, such as sensory integration and differential reinforcement of alternative behavior. Research will be reviewed for each of the procedures, with a focus on critical aspects for producing functional skills.