PRELIMINARY ASSESSMENT OF CHOICE MAKING AMONG CHILDREN WITH RETT-SYNDROME

Two studies were conducted to assess choice making among seven childre n with Rett syndrome. Study 1 entailed 20 opportunities to choose betw een a pair of food, beverage, and leisure items. All children made cho ices by either looking at or touching one of the items. However, half the opportunities elapsed without a choice having been made. Study 2 w as designed to analyze the function of these no responses. Each item w as offered individually on 10 separate occasions and the child receive d the item even ifa prior choice had not occurred. Items were generall y accepted whether or not a prior choice had been made. This suggests that the lack of a choice may not necessarily indicate lack of prefere nce and that the relationship between selecting and accepting items ma y vary as a function of task configuration. Nonetheless, both configur ations provided useful assessment information.