title: Treatment of life-threatening self-injurious behavior secondary to hereditary sensory and autonomic neuropathy type II: a controlled case study.
abstract: Although self-injurious behavior is present in all subtypes of hereditary sensory and autonomic neuropathy, the literature has not sufficiently addressed the issue of treatment of self-injury in this population. Therefore, the purpose of the current case study was to describe a method for assessing and treating self-injurious behavior associated with hereditary sensory and autonomic neuropathies. This study was conducted with an 11-year-old boy diagnosed with hereditary sensory and autonomic neuropathy type II admitted to an inpatient behavioral unit over a 4-month period. A simplified version of a habit reversal treatment was used, consisting of awareness training, self-monitoring, competing responses, and social support. Treatment resulted in a 98% reduction in the rate of self-injurious behavior relative to pretreatment baseline rates. This case study illustrates that behavioral interventions may be a viable option for treating self-injury secondary to hereditary sensory and autonomic neuropathies.
authors.affiliation: Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA. kuhn@kennedykrieger.org
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Kuhn
authors.forename: Louis
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Hagopian
authors.forename: Cindy
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Terlonge
mesh_terms: D001521:Behavior Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D002648:Child; D009477:Hereditary Sensory and Autonomic Neuropathies / Q000150:complications* / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D016728:Self-Injurious Behavior / Q000209:etiology* / Q000628:therapy*; D016896:Treatment Outcome