Eliminating a severely retarded blind adolescent's tantrums using mild behavioral interruption: a case study.
A blind 19 yr old severely retarded man was referred for behavior therapy because of violent and disruptive tantrums. Previous behavioral strategies had failed for various reasons. A very mild, brief, vestibular oriented physical procedure was designed to provide a low level disruptive effect. Intervention consisted of loud teacher demands to stop and work appropriately as well as guiding him through one 360 degrees turn while standing. The data demonstrated rapid and long term success in eliminating the client's tantrums. The results were interpreted in terms of a behavioral interruptor of a chained sequence allowing refocusing of client attention and increased levels of reinforcement.
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001318:Authoritarianism; D001521:Behavior Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D001766:Blindness / Q000150:complications* / Q000523:psychology; D002653:Child Behavior Disorders / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy*; D004495:Education of Persons with Intellectual Disabilities; D006801:Humans; D008607:Intellectual Disability / Q000150:complications* / Q000523:psychology; D008297:Male