Evaluation of stimulus control over a communication response as an intervention for stereotypical responding.

Two kids who rocked and flapped a lot were part of the study.

Each time they played with toys, the staff stopped the play for 30 seconds if the child stereotyped.

The kids quickly learned to press a card that meant "break please." When they pressed, the short punishment pause ended early.

Both children used the card every time the pause started.

Their rocking and flapping dropped only when the card was absent.

The behavior was now under stimulus control—the card became a green light for brief stereotypy.

Cengher et al. (2020) got the same result without punishment. They used extinction plus shaping and still built new mands.

Owen et al. (2020) went further. They showed that some kids hit things just to make adults obey their mands. Thinning the schedule of those mads cut problem behavior by a large share.

Rimmer et al. (1995) also cut stereotypy, but they used fun video games instead of any punishment. All four studies prove you can trade problem behavior for communication, with or without a penalty.

You now have a menu. If parents hate punishment, try reinforcement plus extinction like Cengher. If the behavior is severe and brief timeout is okay, teach a "break" card like M et al. Either way, give the client a clear, easy mand and put the problem behavior on a strict contingency.