Reducing aggression in children with autism toward infant or toddler siblings

Children with autism often lack appropriate means to communicate and may re ly an aggression and other disruptive behaviors to express their needs. Thi s may be a particularly serious problem when aggression occurs toward an in fant or toddler, who could be severely injured by an older sibling. This st udy examined the use of functional assessment and individualized parent-imp lemented intervention plans in the home setting, including functional commu nication training with relevant ecological manipulations. Data were collect ed in the context of a multiple baseline design across three families. The results showed that after the intervention there were: (1) large reductions in the children's aggression toward their infant or toddler sibling, (2) i ncreases in parent and child happiness level, and (3) increases in stranger s' level of comfort with respect to interacting with the family. The result s are discussed in terms of improving the overall quality of life for famil ies of children with autism.