Increasing Vocal Repertoire in order to Reduce Screaming Behavior in Toddler with Autism

Many children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have language delays and difficulty requesting for what they want. As a result, some of them engage in challenging behaviors. Our participant is a 6 years old child with ASD who engaged in screaming when he wanted to have access to edibles. During the intervention, we implemented most-to-least prompt procedures, which were faded when our participant mastered the target skill on each level. During the last step of the study, he was able to request, independently, for the edible without engaging in screaming. The results demonstrated the effectiveness of this intervention, as he achieved high percentage of correct requesting independently. There was only one day where he achieved moderate percentage of correct requesting, which after a week abruptly increased to high percentage levels again. Nevertheless, we should implement generalization and maintenance procedures, to ensure that our participant has effectively developed his requesting skill.