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Changes in self-stimulatory behaviors with treatment

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Abstract

For four of six autistic children who underwent intensive behavioral treatment, the nature of their self-stimulatory behavior changed from initial “lowlevel” motor behaviors (such as rocking, spinning, twirling) to differing kinds of “higher-level” behaviors (such as lining of objects, echolalic speech, and preoccupation with spelling and numerical values). The children who changed to the highest levels of self-stimulatory behavior also showed the largest gains in treatment (as determined by IQ scores, school placement, etc.). The changes in self-stimulatory behaviors were attributed to the intense teaching of appropriate social behaviors and the explicit therapeutic suppression of low-level, self-stimulatory behaviors. The long-term therapeutic effects of changing from lower-to higher-level forms of self-stimulatory behavior were discussed.

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Author information

Author notes

  1. Lawrence J. Epstein

    Present address: George Washington School of Medicine, USA

  2. Mitchel T. Taubman

    Present address: Marilyn Ruman Clinical and Consulting Associates, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, University of California at Los Angeles, 405 Hilgard Avenue, 90024, Los Angeles, California

    Lawrence J. Epstein, Mitchel T. Taubman &  O. I. Lovaas

Authors
  1. Lawrence J. Epstein
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  2. Mitchel T. Taubman
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  3. O. I. Lovaas
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Additional information

This study was supported by a grant from the National Institute of Mental Health (grant MH 11440). We want to express our thanks to the parents who allowed us to study their children. We gratefully acknowledge the assistance of Maria Audero with the design of the weighted measure, and Tracee Parker with the collection of the data.

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Epstein, L.J., Taubman, M.T. & Lovaas, O.I. Changes in self-stimulatory behaviors with treatment. J Abnorm Child Psychol 13, 281–293 (1985). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00910648

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00910648

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