People with developmental disorders (DD) often display high levels of selective eating, which can result in micronutrient deficiencies. It is therefore essential to explore ways to increase dietary variety in this population. To identify different types of interventions promoting increased acceptance of new foods or dietary variety for DD…

The present study utilized a fear potentiated startle paradigm to examine amygdala function in individuals with autism spectrum disorder. Two competing hypotheses regarding amygdala dysfunction in autism have been proposed: (1) The amygdala is under-responsive, in which case it would be predicted that, in a fear potentiated startle experiment,…

The mothers and fathers of 11 preschool autistic children were taught operant procedures used in teaching speech to nonverbal children. At posttreatment, the children showed significant gains in pre-speech and speech skills as measured by a 21-step hierarchy of speech behaviors. (Author)

This critical review examines 10 controlled studies in which traditional operant behavioral procedures were compared with normalized interventions for teaching language to young children with autism. It concluded that normalized language training was substantially more effective than discrete-trial training and yielded more positive parental…

In this case study, interactions were examined between features of Rett syndrome and operant conditioning as determinants of self-injurious behavior (SIB). Analysis suggested different functions for two forms of SIB: automatic reinforcement by sensory stimulation and escape from social interactions. Features of Rett syndrome tended to maximize the…