Teaching self‐treatment of cold symptoms to an anoxic brain injured adult

Abstract

AbstractTraumatic brain injury can result in behavioral and physical deficits that require intensive post‐acute residential rehabilitation. Behaviors targeted by such programs include basic self‐care and living skills. We examined the efficacy of a behavioral training strategy to teach appropriate medical treatment of four different groups of simulated cold symptoms to an anoxic brain injured adult. The strategy included instructor prompting and feedback in the use of written task analyses and picture cues as self‐administered prompts. Subsequent to baseline, the participant used written generic task analyses combined with picture cues and then, if necessary, written specific task analyses combined with picture cues to prompt appropriate self‐treatment of the four types of colds. Written individualized task analyses, tailored to participant errors, were used to fade specific task analysis prompts and transfer stimulus control to the discriminative stimuli present in the picture cues. A multiple baseline design across responses showed that skill acquisition did not occur after generic task analysis training, but did so after specific task analysis training. The participant responded to all four types of colds for three consecutive trials at 100% correct under baseline conditions. Follow‐up results indicated that transfer of stimulus control to the cold symptoms simulated by the picture cues alone did not maintain over time. Correct responding was retrained using generic and, if necessary, individualized task analysis training conditions.