The effects of implementing program consequences with a group of individuals who engaged in sensory maintained hand mouthing

Abstract

This study evaluated whether a multicomponent treatment package could be successfully implemented with individuals who engage in self-injurious hand mouthing maintained by sensory consequences in the context of both individual and small group settings. Three ambulatory individuals with profound mental retardation participated on an individual basis followed by treatment within a group setting. Generalization of the intervention results to the natural living environment was then analyzed. Using an ABAB experimental design, the effectiveness of brief response interruption followed by the introduction of a preferred leisure item to reduce hand mouthing during 15-min intervention sessions was analyzed. Results of these experiments showed that the intervention could be successfully implemented during individual and small group sessions and during group sessions conducted in the natural environment. The benefits and limitations of this intervention strategy and future research are discussed.