A FUNCTIONAL-ANALYTIC APPROACH TO THE DIAGNOSIS OF A TRANSIENT TIC DISORDER

The diagnostic utility of functional analyses has been demonstrated wi th a variety of behaviors including tics. Whereas previous analyses ha ve focused on the discovery of maintaining variables to aid in treatme nt prescription, we employed a functional analysis to confirm a clinic al diagnosis. An 11 year old male student, who had not been previously diagnosed with a tic disorder, exhibited multiple vocal tic-like beha viors which had persisted over a period of time. Teacher reports confl icted regarding the possible etiology of these behaviors. Hence, a fun ctional analysis was conducted in the classroom to determine if the be haviors were maintained by operant variables. Our hypothesis stated th at the occurrence of vocal behaviors across experimental conditions wo uld strongly indicate the presence of a tic disorder. The functional a nalysis included the following conditions: attention, escape, alone, f reeplay, and high sensory stimulation. We used a multi-element design to evaluate the effects of the different stimulus conditions on vocal- behavior frequency. Data indicated the student exhibited vocal behavio rs in all conditions. However, the behaviors were partially exacerbate d in the attention and escape conditions. Results supported the diagno sis of a transient tic disorder affected by operant variables. Copyrig ht (C) 1996 Elsevier Science Ltd