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Evidence‐Based Practice in the Classroom: Evaluating a Procedure for Reducing Perseverative Requesting in an Adolescent with Autism and Severe Intellectual Disability

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 February 2016

Jeff Sigafoos ,
Jennifer Ganz ,
Mark O’Reilly  and
Giulio Lancioni
Jeff Sigafoos*
Affiliation:
Victoria University, Wellington, New Zealand
Jennifer Ganz
Affiliation:
University of Texas, San Antonio, USA
Mark O’Reilly
Affiliation:
University of Texas, Austin
Giulio Lancioni
Affiliation:
University of Bari, Italy
*
*Corresponding author. College of Education, Victoria University of Wellington, PO Box 17–310, Karoi, Wellington, New Zealand E-mail: jeff.sigafoos@vuw.ac.nz
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Abstract

Management of inappropriate behaviour is a major priority in special education. Evidence‐based practice dictates that interventions to reduce inappropriate behaviour should be evaluated at the individual level to demonstrate their efficacy in the classroom. This study illustrates the evaluation of an evidence‐based procedure (response interruption) for reducing perseverative requesting in an adolescent boy with autism and severe intellectual disability. The boy used a speech‐generating device to request snacks during baseline and response interruption conditions. During both conditions, the boy had to wait 30 seconds while the snack was being prepared. Requests that occurred during this wait interval were defined as perseverative. Intervention involved blocking perseverative requests and prompting the child to wait. An ABAB design was used to evaluate the effects of the response interruption procedure. The results demonstrated that response interruption effectively reduced perseverative requesting, while maintaining appropriate requesting at other times. The study illustrates how special educators might evaluate evidence‐based practice in the classroom.

Type
Research Article
Information
Australasian Journal of Special Education , Volume 32 , Issue 1: A Scientific Approach to Special Education , April 2008 , pp. 55 - 65
Copyright
Copyright © The Australian Association of Special Education 2008

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