Development of a Combined Intervention to Decrease Problem Behavior Displayed by Siblings with Pervasive Developmental Disorder

Approximately 10-20 % of children with pervasive developmental disorder are likely to have a sibling with that disorder. Under such circumstances, caregivers may be faced with simultaneously implementing separate interventions for their children. Merging different treatments to decrease both children's problem behavior may permit for more fluid parent responses and increased procedural integrity. The current study describes one approach to treating problem behavior displayed by siblings with autism. Separate functional analyses identified a different maintaining reinforcer for each child's aggression. These behaviors were initially treated separately using functional communication training and delay fading. To ensure that the caregiver would be able to manage these siblings' behaviors concurrently, a protocol using differential reinforcement of other behaviors was implemented that was based on the separate functions of each child's behavior.