Decreasing self-injurious behavior and fading self-restraint in a student with autism and Tourette syndrome

This clinical case study was conducted with a student diagnosed with autism and Tourette syndrome who displayed severe self-injurious behavior (SIB). Behavioral assessments and observations suggested that the student demonstrated less SIB during a self-restraint, where he wrapped his hands tightly in a large blanket. We used an ABAB design with fading to reduce the size of the blanket to keep rates of SIB low. In addition, we also used a fixed interval reinforcement schedule and extinction during the intervention/restraint phases. Results indicated that the student maintained near-zero rates of SIB for 6months after use of the blanket was eliminated. Results and implications for practice and future research are discussed.