Assessment and treatment of stereotypic behavior in children with autism and other developmental disabilities: A thirty year review

A defining feature of children with autism includes stereotypy, characterized as restrictive and repetitive vocal and motor behavior. The current literature review seeks to (a) determine the number of empirical studies using behavioral interventions to treat stereotypy exhibited by children with autism or other pervasive development disorder, (b) identify the assessment techniques used to determine the function of stereotypy, (c) broadly categorize the treatment procedures, (d) summarize findings of other relevant variables (e.g., participant demographics, experimental setting, change agents used, and topography of stereotypy), and (e) determine the number of studies reporting reliability of the independent variables. Results indicate that a wide variety of stereotypies are represented in the published literature. A majority of studies do not rely on a functional assessment to guide intervention planning and consequence-based approaches are the most common treatment technique. Similar to previous research, measurement of reliability of the independent variables is uncommon.

► A majority of studies included multiple forms of stereotypy.
► A majority of studies did not use functional assessment procedures.
► Consequence-based techniques were most common stereotypy intervention.
► Most commonly reported interventionist was paraprofessionals in school settings.
► Treatment integrity assessment was lacking.