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A Comparison of Within- and Across-Activity Choices for Reducing Challenging Behavior in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders

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Abstract

Offering children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) choices between activities (e.g., working on math or English), instructional materials (e.g., using a pen or pencil), or environmental arrangements (e.g., where to sit) has been shown to reduce challenging behavior maintained by escape from task demands. However, the majority of research investigating choice-based interventions for challenging behavior has examined across-activity choices (i.e., choosing between activities) and relatively few studies have examined within-activity choice (i.e., choosing between instructional materials or environmental arrangements). The purpose of this study is to replicate and extend previous research on choice-based challenging behavior interventions by comparing the effects of across-activity choices and within-activity choices on the escape-maintained challenging behavior of 4 children with ASD. An alternating treatment design was embedded within the “B” phase of an ABAB design in which the “A” phase represented a no-choice baseline condition. Both choice formats resulted in less challenging behavior than the baseline condition for all participants. Across-activity choice resulted in less challenging behavior than within-activity choice for 3 participants. Implications for research and practice are discussed.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Educational Psychology, Texas A&M University, 4225 TAMU, College Station, TX, 77843, USA

    Mandy Rispoli, Leslie Neely, Siglia Camargo, Nancy Hutchins & Fara Goodwyn

  2. Clinic for Autism Research Evaluation and Support, Texas State University-San Marcos, San Marcos, TX, USA

    Russell Lang & Katy Davenport

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  1. Mandy Rispoli
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  2. Russell Lang
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  3. Leslie Neely
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  4. Siglia Camargo
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  7. Fara Goodwyn
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Correspondence to Mandy Rispoli.

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Rispoli, M., Lang, R., Neely, L. et al. A Comparison of Within- and Across-Activity Choices for Reducing Challenging Behavior in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders. J Behav Educ 22, 66–83 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10864-012-9164-y

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