Document Type

Article

Publication Title

The Analysis of Verbal Behavior

Abstract

Individuals with deaf-blindness and co-occurring diagnoses, such as intellectual and developmental disabilities, may experience difculty with independence, specifcally with communication. One behavior-analytic procedure that may be useful for increasing independence and teaching communication to this population is the behavior-chain interruption strategy (BCIS). The current study examined the use of the BCIS to teach a 65-year-old deaf-blind participant with severe intellectual disability to use a SadoTech Elderly Monitoring Pager to notify others in the environment when help was needed. The researcher alternated between establishing operation (EO; help needed, items missing, or inoperable) and abolishing operation (AO; help not needed, items present, and operable) trials for three previously mastered daily living routines. The results demonstrated that following intervention, the participant used the device independently during EO trials and never used it during AO trials across behavior chains, and similar results were obtained during a treatment-extension phase. Limitations and implications for applied practice are discussed.

DOI

10.1007/s40616-024-00204-8

Publication Date

2-2024

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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