Faculty Articles
Increasing Social Interactions in Deaf-Blind Severely Handicapped Young Adults
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
4-1989
Publication Title
Behavior Modification
Volume
13
Issue/Number
2
First Page
257
ISSN
0145-4455
Last Page
272
Abstract/Excerpt
The effectiveness of prompting and positive reinforcement for increasing on-task behavior and social interactions in two deaf-blind severely handicapped young adults was examined. Treatment was conducted in a leisure setting in which subjects participated in games requiring social interchange. On-task behavior was initially targeted and treatment efficacy evaluated with a withdrawal design. After demonstration of experimental control, treatment was then implemented with social interactions in a multiple baseline design. Results showed increased percentages of on-task social interactions for both subjects with introduction of treatment. In addition, rates of non-targeted self-stimulatory responses were observed to decrease concurrently with treatment for target behaviors. Results are discussed in terms of the utility of behavioral strategies with deaf-blind persons and the importance of improved social performance in these individuals.
DOI
10.1177/01454455890132007
NSUWorks Citation
Van Hasselt, V. B.,
Hersen, M.,
Egan, B. S.,
Mckelvey, J. L.,
Sisson, L. A.
(1989). Increasing Social Interactions in Deaf-Blind Severely Handicapped Young Adults. Behavior Modification, 13(2), 257-272.
Available at: https://nsuworks.nova.edu/cps_facarticles/173
