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Using Shaping to Increase Foods Consumed by Children with Autism

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Abstract

The current study used differential reinforcement and shaping to increase the variety of foods accepted by children with autism who demonstrated significant feeding inflexibility. Participants were introduced to four new food items via a hierarchical exposure, which involved systematically increasing the desired response with the food item. Level of food consumption was evaluated using a combined multiple baseline plus changing criterion design. Following intervention, all participants accepted all foods targeted, expanding upon the number of foods consumed.

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Author Contributions

AH contributed to the design, coordination, implementation, and preparation of the manuscript. TD contributed to the design and preparation of the manuscript. MC contributed to the implementation and coordination of the study in terms of data collection and analysis. LP contributed to data collection and analysis. RW helped with manuscript preparation. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Baylor University, One Bear Place #97031, Waco, TX, 76798-3701, USA

    Abby Hodges, Tonya Davis, Madison Crandall, Laura Phipps & Regan Weston

Authors
  1. Abby Hodges
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  2. Tonya Davis
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  3. Madison Crandall
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  4. Laura Phipps
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  5. Regan Weston
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Abby Hodges.

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All authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Ethical Approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

Informed Consent

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants in the study.

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Hodges, A., Davis, T., Crandall, M. et al. Using Shaping to Increase Foods Consumed by Children with Autism. J Autism Dev Disord 47, 2471–2479 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-017-3160-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-017-3160-y

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