Functional communication training and delay to reinforcement for the treatment of elopement in a boy with Dravet syndrome

The team worked with a teenage boy who has Dravet syndrome. He often ran away from adults at home and at his day program.

They taught him to tap a picture card to ask for a break or a snack instead of running. After each tap he had to wait 30 seconds before getting what he asked for.

Sessions were run in both places so staff and parents could see if the plan worked outside the clinic.

The teen used the card more each day. Elopement dropped to almost zero in both settings.

The brief wait did not make him run again. The plan kept working when staff and parents ran it on their own.

Boyle et al. (2020) ran a similar plan for a child with autism whose elopement was fueled by door play. Both studies show a short delay after FCT still slashes running away.

Lang et al. (2009) looked at ten older studies and found FCT was the top pick for elopement. The new case adds a teen with Dravet syndrome to that list.

Scheithauer et al. (2025) moved the same ideas into parent coaching for autistic kids. The teen in Vascelli et al. (2021) shows the core method also works in a rare genetic condition.

You can add a short delay to FCT without losing effect. This keeps reinforcement realistic while still stopping elopement. Try it when caregivers worry they cannot deliver tokens or snacks right away.