Reducing severe aggressive and self-injurious behaviors with functional communication training

Functional communication training is a behavioral intervention that incorporates a comprehensive assessment of the communicative functions of maladaptive behavior with procedures to teach alternative and incompatible responses. In two studies severe aggressive and self-injurious behaviors exhibited by two adult men with mental retardation were reduced through the implementation of functional communication training. In both studies, these reductions came after years of less successful nonaversive and aversive interventions and generalized across staff, new environments, and increasing task demands. The role of this training as a refinement of the traditional differential reinforcement of other behavior and as an alternative to the use of aversive interventions was discussed.