FUNCTIONAL COMMUNICATION TRAINING TO REDUCE CHALLENGING BEHAVIOR: MAINTENANCE AND APPLICATION IN NEW SETTINGS

TLDR

Recent efforts aim to develop effective interventions for severe challenging behavior and to understand the processes underlying transfer and maintenance of intervention effects. The study evaluated the initial effectiveness, maintenance, and transferability of functional communication training for challenging behaviors in three students. The intervention taught students alternative assistance‑seeking and attention‑getting phrases to replace challenging behavior with verbal equivalents. The intervention substantially reduced challenging behavior, with escape from academic demands and social attention identified as maintaining factors, and the gains transferred across tasks, environments, and teachers while being maintained for 18 to 24 months.

Abstract

We evaluated the initial effectiveness, maintenance, and transferability of the results of functional communication training as an intervention for the challenging behaviors exhibited by 3 students. Assessment indicated that escape from academic demands was involved in the maintenance of the challenging behaviors. Social attention was also implicated as controlling the behavior of 1 student. The intervention involved teaching alternative assistance‐seeking and attention‐getting phrases to the students in an effort to replace challenging behavior with these verbal equivalents. Multiple baseline data collected across the 3 students indicated that not only did the intervention substantially reduce challenging behavior but also that these results transferred across new tasks, environments, and teachers, and were generally maintained from 18 to 24 months following the introduction of functional communication training. These results are discussed in light of recent efforts to develop effective interventions for severe challenging behavior and to understand the processes underlying transfer and maintenance of intervention effects.