Abstract
The prevalence of feeding problems in children with autism is high. The current investigation was a treatment of a unique presentation of food-related prompt dependence with a 6-year-old boy with autism who was reliant upon approval from adults for consumption of every bite of food. Instructions were used to establish independent eating, in which the number of bites specified in the instruction was systematically increased. Independent bites increased from a baseline level of 0.67% to a final phase level of almost 100%, and the instruction was faded to “eat your lunch”.
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Acknowledgements
We would like to thank the therapists who provided one-on-one support to Hans and the research team at Trumpet Behavior Health for their suggestions and advice.
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No funding was associated with the current study.
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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
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All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.
Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.
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Utility to Practitioners
• Effective treatment of rigid behavior during meal times
• Establishing use of flexible rules for individuals with strict rule adherence
• Training indirect stimulus control (e.g., feelings of hunger or satiation) during meals
• Eliminating prompt dependence during meals
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Jenkins, S.R., LeBlanc, L.A. & Lambert, G.P. Treating Food Approval-Seeking Behavior: One Bite at a Time. Behav Analysis Practice 10, 411–416 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40617-016-0170-8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40617-016-0170-8