Self-management of varied responding in three students with autism

One of the aspects of autism that is often held up as a hallmark of the dis order is a desire for sameness. Students with autism often show a marked la ck of variability in language and play skills. The same behavioral patterns are repeated perseveratively, rather than attempting new patterns. In the current study, students diagnosed with autism were taught to self-manage va ried responding. Using a multiple baseline design, three children with auti sm were taught to self-monitor and then to self-manage in order to increase variability in play and social language. All three students demonstrated m arked increases in variability during self-management phases. These gains w ere maintained at one month follow-up. Copyright (C) 2000 John Wiley & Sons , Ltd.