The Long-Term Effects of Functional Communication Training Conducted in Young Children's Home Settings.

This article describes the results of a series of studies that involved functional communication training (FCT) conducted in children's homes by their parents. The 103 children who participated were six years old or younger, had developmental delays, and engaged in destructive behaviors such as self-injury. The core procedures used in each study were functional analyses (FA) and FCT conducted by parents with coaching by the investigators.

Guidelines for Developing Telehealth Services and Troubleshooting Problems with Telehealth Technology When Coaching Parents to Conduct Functional Analyses and Functional Communication Training in Their Homes.

The researchers in the project used telehealth to conduct functional analyses and functional communication training in homes of children diagnosed with autism who displayed problem behavior. Parents conducted all assessment and treatment procedures within their homes while receiving coaching from applied behavior analysts located approximately 200 miles away from them. In this article, the researchers summarize the technical systems they used to develop a telehealth service and the concerns and problems they have encountered using telehealth and provide some guidelines for how to troubleshoot those problems.

Conducting functional analyses of problem behavior via telehealth.

Behavior consultants conducted functional analyses (FAs) via telehealth with 20 young children with autism spectrum disorders between the ages of 29 and 80 months who displayed problem behavior and lived an average of 222 miles from the tertiary hospital that housed the behavior consultants. Participants' parents conducted all procedures during weekly telehealth consultations in regional clinics located an average of 15 miles from the participants' homes. Behavior consultants briefly trained parent assistants to provide on-site support for families during consultations.

Conducting Functional Communication Training via Telehealth to Reduce the Problem Behavior of Young Children with Autism.

Functional communication training (FCT) was conducted by parents of 17 young children with autism spectrum disorders who displayed problem behavior. All procedures were conducted at regional clinics located an average of 15 miles from the families' homes. Parents received coaching via telehealth from behavior consultants who were located an average of 222 miles from the regional clinics.

AN EVALUATION OF RESURGENCE DURING FUNCTIONAL COMMUNICATION TRAINING.

Three children who displayed destructive behavior maintained by negative reinforcement received functional communication training (FCT). During FCT, the children were required to complete a demand and then to mand (touch a card attached to a microswitch, sign, or vocalize) to receive brief play breaks. Prior to and 1 to 3 times following the initiation of FCT, extinction probes were conducted to evaluate the resurgence of destructive behavior when the microswitch without the mand card was present or the microswitch and the mand card were absent to determine if different patterns of resurgence occurred when the microswitch was present or absent and, for 2 of the children, if changes in resurgence occurred at different points in treatment.

A Preliminary Evaluation of Functional Communication Training Effectiveness and Language Preference When Spanish and English are Manipulated.

We evaluated whether differences in treatment effectiveness or preference between languages emerged across Spanish and English during functional communication training (FCT) for young children with developmental disabilities exposed to Spanish and English in the home environment. Participants were 2 young children with developmental disabilities who displayed destructive behavior maintained by social contingencies and whose families spoke Spanish and English at home. All procedures were conducted in the participants' homes by their mothers with coaching from the investigator.

An evaluation of persistence of treatment effects during long-term treatment of destructive behavior.

Eight young children who displayed destructive behavior maintained, at least in part, by negative reinforcement received long-term functional communication training (FCT). During FCT, the children completed a portion of a task and then touched a communication card attached to a microswitch to obtain brief breaks. Prior to and intermittently throughout FCT, extinction probes were conducted within a withdrawal design in which task completion, manding, and destructive behavior were placed on extinction to evaluate the relative persistence of appropriate and destructive behavior over the course of treatment.

Indirect Effects of Functional Communication Training on Non-Targeted Disruptive Behavior.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of functional communication training (FCT) on the occurrence of non-targeted disruptive behavior. The 10 participants were preschool-aged children with developmental disabilities who engaged in both destructive (property destruction, aggression, self-injury) and disruptive (hand flapping, spinning in circles, shrill laughter, screaming, crying) behaviors. Only destructive behavior was targeted for the functional analyses and FCT, but data were also collected on disruptive behaviors.

An Evaluation of Manding Across Functions Prior to Functional Communication Training.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether destructive behavior and manding were maintained by the same social reinforcers. A summary of 10 participants that met criteria for differentiated functional analysis and mand analysis results were included in this study. All participants were preschool-aged children with developmental disabilities who engaged in destructive behavior.

Conducting Functional Communication Training in Home Settings: A Case Study and Recommendations for Practitioners.

We coached a parent to conduct functional analysis and functional communication training (FCT) procedures in her home to reduce the destructive behavior displayed by her 2-year-old son. Descriptive assessment information and functional analysis results suggested that destructive behavior was maintained by escape from demands. After conducting a series of baseline probes, the parent implemented an FCT program to teach her son to comply with designated task requests and to mand for a break to play.

Analysis of Multiple Manding Topographies during Functional Communication Training.

We evaluated the effects of reinforcing multiple manding topographies during functional communication training (FCT) to decrease problem behavior for three preschool-age children. During Phase 1, a functional analysis identified conditions that maintained problem behavior for each child. During Phase 2, the children's parents taught them to request positive reinforcers (attention or toys) via vocal manding, manual signing, or touching a picture/word card with or without a microswitch recording device.

Promoting response variability and stimulus generalization in martial arts training.

The effects of reinforcement and extinction on response variability and stimulus generalization in the punching and kicking techniques of 2 martial arts students were evaluated across drill and sparring conditions. During both conditions, the students were asked to demonstrate different techniques in response to an instructor's punching attack. During baseline, the students received no feedback on their responses in either condition.