Toilet Training for an Adult with Autism, Severely Disturbing Behavior, and Mental Retardation

Abstract

Examined the effectiveness of positive practice in training an adult male with autism and severely disturbed behavior, and who lived in an institution for persons with mental retardation, to defecate and urinate appropriately. For more than 10 yrs prior to the present training, he had frequently excreted in inappropriate locations. Toileting in his living environment was task-analyzed, and a positive practice procedure was conducted in order to chain appropriate toileting behavior. After measurement of the baseline number of occurrences of the inappropriate behavior, a reversal design was used. The results show that in the individual's daily life, appropriate toileting increased, and excretions in inappropriate locations decreased. A 1-yr post-training check showed that the improvement had been maintained with little change. The effectiveness of this procedure and the possibility of its more general application in residential institutions are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2002 APA, all rights reserved)