Suchergebnisse

The impact of TASH over the next decade will be affected by decisions about the precision and consistency of the organization's messages to the field. TASH has long been the premier organization extending the voice of individuals with significant developmental disabilities. As TASH examines the themes that will be prominent in the coming years, we advocate a consistent focus on (a) qualify of life and (b) evidence-based practices.

Objective: This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of a contingency contracting program to eliminate nocturnal enuresis of three children ages 5 to 12. Methods: The program was implemented by the children's primary caregivers, two of whom were foster parents and the third a case worker in the foster care system. The program was a package intervention that included a written contingency contract, positive reinforcement for dry nights, removal of pull-ups, and a morning clean-up procedure when nocturnal enuresis occurred. A nonconcurrent multiple baseline across children design was used to evaluate the effects of the intervention. Results: Results show that the contingency contracting program was effective in eliminating nocturnal enuresis across all three participants. Discussion: The results are discussed in relation to the advantages of behavioral, nonpharmacological approaches to nocturnal enuresis and to the particular importance of successfully resolving such problems for children who are in foster care.

This descriptive study examined the unsupervised responding of a young man with profound handicaps and a lifelong history of dependence. Two objectives were pursued: (a) to establish independent, unsupervised task responding with a stimulus and reinforcer fading procedure; and (b) to assess generalization of unsupervised performance across tasks and settings. The data showed that, initially, the participant did not display unsupervised responding, even though a clear contingency was described prior to the work session. Following the fading procedure, high rates of independent performance were exhibited, which were then maintained with post-session contingencies. In addition, generalization occurred to three other unsupervised tasks that had not been subjected to within-session interventions. Although the design prohibits definitive conclusions, the results delineate variables and suggest directions for future research in the areas of stimulus control, generalization, and normalized contingencies.