Accessing Community Settings by Creating Safe Practice Contexts: An Ecologically Valid Applied Behavior Analytic Understanding

Abstract

Objectives

Individuals diagnosed with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities (IDDs) are often excluded from community-based activities. One common reason for exclusion is the occurrence of severe challenging behavior in the community. The objective of this study was to support this population’s inclusion in community-based activities.

Methods

We evaluated the effectiveness and ecological validity of two multicomponent behavior interventions aimed to reduce challenging behavior in community-based contexts using a single-case experimental design for two participants. Prior to intervention, both youths with IDD were restricted from community outings due to challenging behavior in those settings and challenging behavior previously resulted in police intervention.

Results

For both individuals and based upon visual analysis, multicomponent behavior intervention resulted in successful community outings when progressing from a practice context to a community-based context. Furthermore, multicomponent intervention gains were identified across a variety of local community stores when parents implemented intervention.

Conclusions

These findings (a) highlight the importance of ecologically valid research in behavior analysis and (b) support the use of multicomponent behavior intervention implemented by parents in community-based contexts.