Individuals with disabilities often engage in sexual behavior that is developmentally appropriate, but occurs in inappropriate places or at inappropriate times due to a lack of social skills and/or sexual education. This study evaluated two redirection procedures for decreasing public masturbation (PM). First, no interaction sessions were conducted to establish baseline levels of PM, then both redirection procedures were evaluated in an alternating treatments comparison. During the standard redirection procedure, the therapist presented a verbal comment to interrupt engagement of PM and redirected the participant's hands away from the groin area. In the physical redirection procedure, when the student engaged in PM, the teacher immediately instructed him/her to stand up and engage in 3-5 minutes of physical activity requiring both hands, and reinforced compliance with the activity upon completion. Following a return to baseline, these two redirection procedures were evaluated again. Results showed that both redirection procedures decreased PM to low levels; however, in some cases the physical redirection procedure required multiple therapists for implementation and resulted in overall longer treatment sessions. These data were presented at BABAT 2015 & ABAI 2016.
Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee (IACC)
Autism Research Database (AFD)
