Advisor(s)

William H. Ahearn

Contributor(s)

Eileen M. Roscoe, Susan Langer

Date of Award

2009

Date Accepted

8-2009

Degree Grantor

Northeastern University

Degree Level

M.S.

Degree Name

Master of Science

Department or Academic Unit

Bouvé College of Health Sciences. Department of Counseling and Applied Educational Psychology.

Keywords

Behavior analysts, Autism, Automatic reinforcement, Sensory integration, Stereotypy

Subject Categories

Stereotyped behavior (Psychiatry), Sensorimotor integration, Teenage boys - Case studies

Disciplines

Behavior and Behavior Mechanisms

Abstract

Sensory integration is a theory that suggests that many of the characteristics of autism are caused by poor integration of sensory experiences. Conceptualized in behavioral terms, sensory integration therapy could serve to abolish automatically reinforced behavior. The purpose of this research was to investigate sensory integration as a treatment for repetitive behavior in individuals with autism. Two teenage boys with autism participated in Experiment 1. Both participants had high levels of automatically-reinforced motor stereotypy. A typical sensory diet treatment was examined to determine whether this treatment would have an abolishing effect on motor stereotypy. It was determined that the sensory diet had no long-term effects on motor stereotypy for either participant. One participant from Experiment 1 participated in Experiment 2, an extension to determine whether the sensory diet had any immediate or short-term effects on motor stereotypy. Results of Experiment 2, showed that the sensory diet suppressed stereotypy while it was being administered, but had no abolishing effects on stereotypy immediately after removal. Based on the results of these two experiments, Sensory Integration therapy, particularly the sensory diet approach was shown to be ineffective in decreasing motor stereotypy.

Document Type

Master's Thesis

Rights Holder

Keira Maureen Ahearn Moore


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