title: The Effect of Music on the Self-Injurious Behavior of an Adult Female with Severe Developmental Disabilities.
abstract: This study compared the effects of contingent blocking, music listening, water play, and instrument playing on self-injurious behavior. The subject was a 23-year-old female with severe developmental disabilities, including communication deficits, motor deficits, and visual impairment. A single subject reversal design with four conditions (ABACADA) was used. Subject was videotaped 10 minutes before and 10 minutes after the interventions to study changes in rate and variability of three behaviors: teeth-grinding, mouth-scratching, and head-hitting. Visual analysis showed a strong downward trend after music listening for teeth-grinding, and no change over all conditions for mouth-scratching. Subject did not exhibit any preintervention head-hitting during both music conditions, and therefore showed no change in behavior. Subject responded to water play and contingent blocking by reducing head-hitting.
authors.affiliation: Colorado State University.
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Ford