Inducing variability in communicative gestures used by severely retarded individuals.

Six adults with severe intellectual disability kept using the same hand sign over and over.

The team stopped giving treats for that one sign. They watched what new signs popped up.

A multiple-baseline design across people showed the effect was real, not luck.

When the old sign no longer paid off, each person started using new gestures.

The fresh gestures stayed in the mix even after the study ended.

Withholding reinforcement created a bigger vocabulary instead of silence.

Perez et al. (2015) and Delehanty et al. (2023) show parents can do the same thing in play. Moms who follow the child’s lead and add orienting cues get more words, not just signs.

Gaucher et al. (2020) used a DRL schedule to slow down repetitive talk in kids with ASD. Both studies tame over-used responses by changing the pay-off rule.

Iqbal (2002) looks like a warning: when staff dropped a DRI plan for rituals, the behavior roared back. The 1991 study stayed firm and kept the new gestures alive.

You can free clients from gesture or word ruts in one session. Pick the top repetitive response, withhold reinforcement for it, and watch novel forms appear. The effect lasts, and it works with signs, words, or AAC pictures.