Food selectivity exhibited by children with autism creates a myriad of barriers for families and children, ranging from social to nutritional. The typical approach to food selectivity is pathological. The pathological approach attempts to eliminate food selectivity through the use of techniques such as escape extinction. While successful in decreasing aspects of food challenges, such as food refusals, the pathological approach does not necessarily establish desired responses to foods or mealtimes (e.g., favorable affect, approach, generalized sampling, etc.). The purpose of the current study was to explore an alternative, constructional approach to food challenges presented by two children diagnosed with autism. This approach focuses on the development of favorable responses to food through the use of shaping. Furthermore, the shaping process involved a conceptual and procedural widening of the stimulus and response classes selected. The results of a non-concurrent multiple baseline experiment, suggest this approach was successful in expanding the number of food the children tasted and ate while maintaining favorable or neutral affect and child assent.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:unt.edu/info:ark/67531/metadc799526 |
| Date | 05 1900 |
| Creators | Cihon, Joseph Harvey |
| Contributors | Ala'i-Rosales, Shahla, Rosales-Ruiz, Jesus, Vaidya, Manish |
| Publisher | University of North Texas |
| Source Sets | University of North Texas |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis or Dissertation |
| Format | vi, 48 pages : illustrations (some color), Text |
| Rights | Public, Cihon, Joseph Harvey, Copyright, Copyright is held by the author, unless otherwise noted. All rights reserved. |
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