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An operant procedure to teach an echolalic, autistic child to answer questions appropriately

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Abstract

An operant conditioning procedure to teach an autistic patient with rapid immediate echolalia to answer questions correctly was devised. The procedure involved positively reinforcing the patient immediately after a correct response and preventing incorrect responses. It is simple to implement and eliminates some of the structure and constraints inherent in previously described operant methods. This allows the procedure to be administered by a variety of therapeutic personnel and parents and in a variety of living situations.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Mental Retardation and Child Psychiatry, The Neuropsychiatric Institute, University of California, Los Angeles, School of Medicine, USA

    Betty Jo Freeman, Edward Ritvo & Revel Miller

Authors
  1. Betty Jo Freeman
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  2. Edward Ritvo
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  3. Revel Miller
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Additional information

This study was supported in part by Maternal Child Health Grant #927, U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare.

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Freeman, B.J., Ritvo, E. & Miller, R. An operant procedure to teach an echolalic, autistic child to answer questions appropriately. J Autism Dev Disord 5, 169–176 (1975). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01537933

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01537933

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