Skill-based treatment embedded in enhanced choice model for a child with developmental disabilities and impaired verbal skills in a school setting

Abstract

Skill-Based Treatment (SBT) embedded in the Enhanced Choice Model (ECM) has proven to be an effective treatment approach for challenging behaviour in children with and without Developmental Disorders (DD). However, there is currently limited research on this treatment package applied to individuals with impaired verbal skills. Therefore, this study aimed to expand on this line of research by investigating the effects of the SBT-ECM intervention package in treating problem behaviour in an 8-year-old boy with comorbid DD diagnoses and impaired verbal skills. To measure the intervention effects, a multiple baseline design across behaviours was employed. The study found that SBT-ECM was effective inreducing challenging behaviours and increasing communication, and that despite increased demands, the participant overwhelmingly chose to engage in treatment. Furthermore, to address the impaired communication skills, extra measures were implemented to clarify thechoices, which enabled the participant to successfully communicate his preferences without relying on verbal skills. Nevertheless, more studies are needed to explore the practicalities of implementing this approach in the classroom.Keywords: verbal skills, Enhanced choice model, Skill-based treatment, choice, problem behaviour, developmental disorder