Effects of facial screening and blindfold on self-injurious behavior.

Abstract

Previous research has demonstrated that a variety of maladaptive behaviors in children can be suppressed by facial screening. The effectiveness of various screening procedures for reducing self-injurious behaviors were compared in three experiments using alternating treatments designs. In Experiments 1 and 2, an immediate substantial response reduction occurred with facial screening in which visual blocking was present but not when visual blocking was absent. In Experiment 3, both facial screening with visual blocking and a blindfold procedure proved equally effective in reducing self-injury but for practical reasons, therapists preferred to use facial screening.