Parental Ratings of Treatments of Self-injurious Behavior

This study examined (a) how parents of autistic children, parents of other handicapped children, and parents of nonhandicapped children rate, as a whole, acceptability of time-out, differential reinforcement, overcorrection, and shock as treatments for self-injurious behavior, and (b) whether these parents show differences, as groups, in ratings of these treatments. On the Treatment Evaluation Inventory, all groups consistently rated differential reinforcement, time-out, and overcorrection as acceptable and shock as unacceptable. Differential reinforcement was consistently rated as the most acceptable, but the groups differed in ratings of acceptability of other treatments. On the Semantic Differential, ratings of differential reinforcement, overcorrection, and time-out did not differ. However, shock was consistently rated as the most potent and active of treatments as well as the most unacceptable. The implications of these findings for treatment of autistic and other handicapped children are discussed.