TREATMENT OF VOCAL STEREOTYPY IN AN ANALOGUE AND CLASSROOM SETTING

Vocal stereotypy is commonly seen in individuals diagnosed with autism. Vocal stereotypy maintained by automatic reinforcement may prove challenging to treat because of difficulty controlling access to the reinforcer for the behavior. Although previous research has shown reductions in vocal stereotypy using noncontingent reinforcement with and without a response cost component, these types of interventions may not be feasible in the natural environment. The present study presents a treatment package, conducive to the natural environment, consisting of a token economy with a response cost to reduce vocal stereotypy in a male adolescent with autism. Vocal stereotypy was reduced to near zero levels in both an analogue and classroom setting. Copyright (c) 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.