Effects of Behavioral Skills Training on Parental Treatment of Children's Food Selectivity

Abstract

We used behavioral skills training to teach parents of 3 children with autism spectrum disorder and food selectivity to conduct a home-based treatment package that consisted of taste exposure, escape extinction, and fading. Parent performance following training improved during both taste sessions and probe meals and was reflected in increases in children's acceptance of bites and decreases in their disruptive behavior. Parents also reported that increases in diet variety were maintained at follow-up.

Towards a Competency-Based, Ethical, and Socially Valid Approach to the Supervision of Applied Behavior Analytic Trainees

“…BST is ubiquitous in the behavior analytic literature (Rosales, Stone, & Rehfeldt, 2009) and shown to be effective for skill acquisition in typically developing children (Himle, Miltenberger, Flessner, & Gatheridge, 2004;Jones, Kazdin, & Haney, 1981;Yeaton & Bailey, 1978), children with autism (Gunby & Rapp, 2014), teachers and paraprofessionals (Lavie & Sturmey, 2002;Sarokoff & Sturmey, 2004), and parents (Himle & Wright, 2014;Seiverling, Williams, Sturmey, & Hart, 2012;Shayne & Miltenberger, 2013). In the context of supervision, BST involves providing a rationale to the trainee about the skills to be acquired, systematic instruction of skills to the trainee, modeling the previously taught skills to the trainee, rehearsal of the skills by the trainee (i.e., either in vivo or role-play), and supervisor positive and corrective feedback to the trainee about his or her performance of the skills (Behavior Analyst Certification Board, 2012b; Parsons, Rollyson, & Reid, 2012).…”

Using ABC narrative recording to identify the function of problem behavior: A pilot study

“…Behavioral skills training is a teaching strategy that has amassed strong empirical support for teaching skills to caregivers of children with developmental disabilities (e.g., Lafasakis & Sturmey, 2007;Luiselli, 2011;Miles & Wilder, 2009;Seiverling, Williams, Sturmey, & Hart, 2012). First, the trainer provided the caregiver with specific written and oral data collection instructions (detailed instructions available from first author).…”

Mealtime behaviors associated with consumption of unfamiliar foods by young children with autism spectrum disorder

“…Of note, parents only received instruction on behavioral methods at one baseline session, meaning significant improvements were achieved through a cost and time efficient manner. Further, Seiverling, Williams, Sturmey, & Hart (2012) implemented a home-based parent behavioral skills training involving taste exposure, escape extinction, and fading, which led to increased acceptance of bites of non-preferred food by children with ASD during tasting sessions. Parents’ implementation of behavioral skills was also found to improve over the course of tasting sessions, suggesting parents have the ability to incorporate such skills into their parent-child interactions.…”