Abstract
Food satiation and oral hygiene punishment were used to treat the non-lifethreatening rumination of two institutionalized profoundly retarded persons. Satiation consisted of allowing the clients to eat until a satiation criterion of food refusal was achieved or until two full meal portions were consumed. The oral hygiene procedure consisted of cleansing the clients' teeth and gums with Listerine for 2 minutes following each instance of rumination. In the formal study, three conditions—baseline, satiation, and satiation plus oral hygiene—were used following the lunch meal in a multiple-baseline across-subjects design. One client's rumination decreased from an average of 89.5% during baseline to 48.8% during the satiation condition and to 3% during satiation plus oral hygiene. The second client's rumination decreased from a baseline average of 49.9% to 7.9% during satiation and to 1.4% during satiation plus oral hygiene. Generalization probes taken following the breakfast and dinner meals showed a systematic decline in rumination as the various conditions were implemented following the lunch meal. In the 16-week follow-up, rumination was treated following all meals with oral hygiene, and satiation was used at one of the daily meals for 1 week on a rotating basis. Rumination remained at a near-zero level following all meals throughout the follow-up. Thereafter, a maintenance program was conducted by the ward staff. The satiation plus oral hygiene punishment treatment program appears to be an immediate, effective, enduring, and humane method of treating the non-life-threatening rumination of retarded individuals.
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This article is based, in part, on a thesis submitted by the second author in partial fulfillment of the M.A. degree at the University of Maryland. The authors wish to thank A. C. Catania, Arthur Robin, and Dennis Russo, members of the thesis committee, for their helpful comments. We also wish to thank Dr. James A. Brahlek, head of psychology, Rosewood Center, Owings Mills, Maryland, for his assistance and support. Elie Axelroth, Robert Cuilla, Dianne Ebberts, Sue Glass, and Andrea Rubinoff served as observers during various conditions.
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Foxx, R.M., Snyder, M.S. & Schroeder, F. A food satiation and oral hygiene punishment program to suppress chronic rumination by retarded persons. J Autism Dev Disord 9, 399–412 (1979). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01531447
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01531447