B4-E: The Use of Shaping to Increase Oral Medication Tolerance

Children with ASD exhibit feeding problems more frequently than typically developing children, which include food selectivity/refusal and resistance to taking medicine (Cermak et al., 2010; Hodges et al., 2017). Feeding problems, particularly resistance to taking medicine, can lead to consequences with detrimental outcomes (e.g., poor health, lack of access to inclusive settings, and impacts on mental health care). It is important to implement interventions to address these difficulties. This study will implement a shaping procedure to increase the likelihood of children taking prescribed medications in the absence of challenging behaviors. The effects of the intervention will be evaluated with a multiple baseline design across participants.

Learning Outcomes:

1. Participants will understand the behavior analytic concept of shaping.
2. Participants will learn how to implement a teaching procedure to increase the likelihood of children with ASD taking medications without engaging in challenging behaviors.
3. Participants will learn how to collect and analyze data to determine the effectiveness of intervention procedures.

Speakers