Durand, V. M. (1999).
Functional communication training using assistive devices: Recruiting natural communities of reinforcement.
Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis,
32, 247-267.
We evaluated the effectiveness of functional communication
training (FCT) as an intervention for the problem behavior
exhibited by 5 students with severe disabilities both in school
and in the community. Following an assessment of the function of
their problem behavior, the students were taught to use assistive
communication devices in school to request the objects and
activities that presumably were maintaining their behavior.
Multiple baseline data collected across the students indicated
that not only did the students use their devices successfully,
but the intervention also reduced their problem behavior. In
addition, data from community settings showed generalization to
untrained community members. These results replicate other
successful efforts to use FCT with individuals having limited
communication skills, and demonstrate the value of teaching
skills to recruit natural communities of reinforcement in order
to generalize intervention effects to meaningful nontraining
environments.
DESCRIPTORS: functional communication training,
functional analysis, generalization, assistive technology,
self-injurious behavior