Effects of Functional Communication Training on the Reduction of Self-Injurious and Aggressive Behaviors of Students with Autism

Won, Jong Rye

ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Commun Sci Disord. 2002;7(3): 252-272.

Jong Rye Won^`

원종례(Jong Rye Won)

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of functional communication training as an intervention for inappropriate self-injurious behaviors and aggressive behaviors of students with autism maintained by escaping from educational task achievement and by incorporating his preferences. Functional communication training program was designed to increase communication behaviors and to decrease self-injurious behaviors and aggressive behaviors. This program was conducted to identify its effects on the increase of the frequency of communication behaviors and the reduction of frequency in self- injurious and aggressive behaviors and to test the maintenance of the results after the withdrawal of intervention. Three students with autism in H special school for students with emotional disturbance participated in this program using the multiple baselines across subjects for thirty minutes, three times a week. This functional communication intervention included an escape and extinction component. This functional communication training decreased the frequency of self-injurious behaviors and aggressive behaviors through increasing the frequency of communication behaviors and the results were maintained six weeks after the withdrawal of intervention. The study clearly demonstrated that the inter- vention involved teaching an appropriate escape response and expressions of his demand to the students with autism to replace self-injurious behaviors and aggressive behaviors in classroom for students with emotional disturbance. This contributes to growing recognition that functional communication training is one of practical teaching methods as an intervention for problem behaviors.