An analysis of maintenance following functional communication training.

The team taught three kids to ask for attention instead of hitting or screaming.

They ran two treatments side by side: functional communication training and time-out.

Later they swapped in new teachers to see if the skills would stick.

Kids who learned to tap a card and say “play with me” kept problem behavior low with the new teacher.

Kids who only got time-out lost the gain; the behavior bounced back.

FCT won the maintenance test.

Martin et al. (1997) pushed the same idea into family homes and tracked kids for two years. The behavior stayed down, showing the 1992 result holds in real-life kitchens and living rooms.

Torres-Viso et al. (2018) copied the logic with a twist: they taught kids to ask people to move objects instead of giving attention. Problem behavior still dropped, proving FCT works for different reasons kids act out.

Hanley et al. (1997) pitted FCT against non-contingent attention. Both cut behavior, but kids picked FCT when given a choice. This backs the 1992 finding and adds a client-preference angle.

You now have three decades of evidence that teaching a simple mand beats punishment alone. Start every new case with a quick functional analysis, then pick one easy phrase or card the child can use anywhere. Train all staff and parents on the first day so the mand is honored across settings. Drop time-out as your lone plan; use it only as a brief backup while you build communication. The payoff is a skill that travels with the child long after you leave the room.