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Practice Recommendations for Addressing Problem Behaviors in Siblings with Autism Spectrum Disorder

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Abstract

Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) display an increased prevalence of problem behavior, relative to the typically developing population. Given the heritability of ASD and its growing prevalence, clinicians who implement behavioral treatments are likely to encounter families with siblings with ASD who exhibit problem behavior. Thus, there is a need for guidance for treatment of problem behavior for these families. This paper presents strategies for conducting behavioral assessments, developing treatments for problem behaviors, caregiver training, and generalization strategies when there are multiple affected children in one family. A case study is presented to illustrate the key clinical decisions made to increase the likelihood of a successful treatment outcome for these families.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Marcus Autism Center, Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, 1920 Briarcliff Rd, Atlanta, GA, 30329, USA

    Joanna E. Lomas Mevers, Nathan A. Call & Sarah J. Miller

  2. Division of Autism & Related Disabilities, Department of Pediatrics, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, USA

    Joanna E. Lomas Mevers, Nathan A. Call & Sarah J. Miller

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  1. Joanna E. Lomas Mevers
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  2. Nathan A. Call
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  3. Sarah J. Miller
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Correspondence to Joanna E. Lomas Mevers.

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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.

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Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Lomas Mevers, J.E., Call, N.A. & Miller, S.J. Practice Recommendations for Addressing Problem Behaviors in Siblings with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Behav Analysis Practice 10, 363–374 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40617-017-0190-z

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