Functional communication training in rett syndrome: a preliminary study.

Rett syndrome (RTT) is associated with a range of serious neurodevelopmental consequences including severe communicative impairments. Currently, no evidence-based communication interventions exist for the population ( Sigafoos et al., 2009 ). The purpose of the current study was to examine the effectiveness of functional assessment (FA) and functional communication training (FCT) methods for teaching 3 individuals (ages 15-47 years) with classic RTT novel communicative behaviors. Using single-case experimental designs, functional reinforcers were identified (FA) and each participant quickly learned to activate a voice-output switch to obtain a reinforcer (FCT). These results suggest that individuals with classic RTT can learn novel communicative responses, which has important implications for future intervention research.