A social learning therapy programme with an autistic child

Undergraduates were trained in a predominantly operant conditioning therapy aimed at acquiring a measure of control over the behaviour of an autistic child in the setting of a day-care centre. Objective measures of therapist-control prior to therapy showed that the workers initially had no influence whatever on the child. Post-measures indicated that both therapists had achieved a markedly greater degree of control. Controls for mere familiarity and for generalization to workers other than the therapists led to the conclusion that, during the programme, the child had become significantly more responsive to adults in general. The case study material, gleaned from the daily reports by means of which the author monitored the treatment, demonstrated many specific instances of behaviour-change, including the apparent desensitization of various fears. In view of the fact that the treatment setting was far from ideal for this approach, the positive results were regarded as strong support for the suitability of operant conditioning techniques for manipulating psychotic behaviour in children.