A comparison of response interruption and redirection and competing items on vocal stereotypy and appropriate vocalizations

Shawler and team worked with three kids who had autism and lots of vocal stereotypy.

They tested three things in the same room: response interruption and redirection (RIRD), sound-making toys, and quiet toys.

Each day they rotated which method they used and counted how much stereotypy and real speech happened.

RIRD cut vocal stereotypy the most and also made appropriate talking go up.

Sound-making toys helped more than quiet toys, but neither beat RIRD.

The kids kept these gains when the team checked weeks later.

This study lines up with Migan-Gandonou et al. (2020), who also used an alternating-treatments design to stop a repetitive behavior—rumination instead of vocal stereotypy.

Both papers show that brief, consistent consequences work better than just giving items to play with.

Wunderlich et al. (2017) and Cordeiro et al. (2022) used the same design to fine-tune teaching, proving the method is solid across very different goals.

Unlike the older Goldman et al. (1979) rumination study, Shawler skipped food satiation and still got strong results, showing the field has moved toward leaner, safer procedures.

If a child on your caseload hums or scripts all day, try RIRD first—interrupt the sound, then prompt a quick functional phrase like “I want car.” If you must use toys, pick ones that beep or play music; they cut stereotypy more than silent blocks or books.