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Impact of Presession Access to Toys Maintaining Challenging Behavior on Functional Communication Training: a Single Case Study

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Abstract

We implemented functional communication training (FCT) with a child with Pervasive Developmental Disorder-Not Otherwise Specified (PDD-NOS) who exhibited challenging behavior when preferred toys were removed. Prior to FCT sessions the participant was exposed to 15 min of access to the toys that maintained challenging behavior versus no access. The presession access versus no access conditions were systematically evaluated using an alternating treatments design. Results indicate that presession access to the toys was associated with a decrease in challenging behavior and an increase in independent communication during FCT training. Future research should attempt to replicate these procedures with other participants who exhibit challenging behavior.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the Capitol School of Austin.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Educational Psychology, Baylor University, One Bear Place #97301, Waco, TX, 76798, USA

    Tonya N. Davis

  2. The Meadows Center for Preventing Educational Risk, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA

    Mark F. O’Reilly & Soyeon Kang

  3. Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA

    Mandy Rispoli

  4. University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, USA

    Russell B. Lang

  5. University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA

    Wendy Machalicek

  6. Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, IL, USA

    Jeffrey M. Chan

  7. University of Bari, Bari, Italy

    Giulio Lancioni

  8. Victoria University at Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand

    Jeff Sigafoos

Authors
  1. Tonya N. Davis
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  2. Mark F. O’Reilly
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  3. Soyeon Kang
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  4. Mandy Rispoli
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  5. Russell B. Lang
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  6. Wendy Machalicek
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  7. Jeffrey M. Chan
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  8. Giulio Lancioni
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  9. Jeff Sigafoos
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Correspondence to Mark F. O’Reilly.

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Davis, T.N., O’Reilly, M.F., Kang, S. et al. Impact of Presession Access to Toys Maintaining Challenging Behavior on Functional Communication Training: a Single Case Study. J Dev Phys Disabil 21, 515–521 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10882-009-9158-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10882-009-9158-4

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