THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN FOOD REFUSAL AND SELF-INJURIOUS-BEHAVIOR - ACASE-STUDY

Food refusal and self-injurious behavior often co-occur in children wi th developmental disabilities and mental retardation. The subject of t he case study was a 3-yr-old boy with food refusal, self-injurious beh avior and developmental delay. Using an alternating treatment design, positive reinforcement for acceptance combined with either nonremoval of the spoon or guidance for refusal increased food acceptance and res ulted in a decrease in self-injurious behavior despite not being targe ted. Although the contingencies for acceptance, refusal and self-injur ious behavior remained constant, self-injurious behavior increased wit h an increase in grams consumed. A combined treatment of positive rein forcement for acceptance, guidance for refusal, position change and ga strojejunal feedings resulted in a decrease in self-injurious behavior and an increase in grams consumed. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.