Funding information High and Complex Needs UnitSevere problem behavior within a school can result in exclusion from education. A practitioner providing school-based services must plan an effective treatment, while mitigating safety risks to the child and others. In this study, we sought to replicate the interview-informed synthesized contingency analysis and treatment procedures developed by Hanley and colleagues in a school setting for a 12-year-old boy with autism and severe problem behavior. However, due to a severe burst in behavior, we increased treatment intensity and introduced procedures across increasing academic demand contexts to promote safety. During a treatment extension, procedures were implemented by teacher aides, across the entire school day. Treatment resulted in meaningful reductions in problem behavior, sustained improvements in compliance, and the student was fully integrated into the regular classroom. In addition, improvements in functional communication and tolerance persisted across contexts and the intervention received high social validity scores from those involved.
KEYWORDSInterview-informed synthesized contingency analysis, public school, severe problem behavior, functional communication training, social validity
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