ABA Fundamentals
Teaching children to identify and avoid food allergens using behavioral skills training
★ The Verdict
One short BST session plus a lunchroom probe can teach kids to check labels and refuse unsafe food.
✓ Read this if BCBAs working with food-allergic kids in schools or clinics.
✗ Skip if Practitioners serving only adults or kids without dietary risks.
01Research in Context
01
Why it matters
If you serve kids with allergies, you can run this package in under an hour.
Teach the three steps, test in the real lunch line, and send a note home.
You may prevent a serious reaction with very little prep.
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Pick one allergic learner, run the 30-minute BST script, then test with a safe but unfamiliar snack at lunch.
02At a glance
Intervention
behavioral skills training
Design
single case other
Sample size
3
Population
neurotypical
Finding
positive
Magnitude
large
03Original abstract
Allergic reactions to allergenic foods can pose a lethal threat to children with food allergies. Previous research has demonstrated the effectiveness of using behavioral skills training (BST) plus in situ training (IST) to teach safety responses to children. However, there has not been an evaluation of using BST to teach food safety to children with food allergies. Three elementary-school children of neurotypical development with food allergies participated. We evaluated the efficacy of BST with IST in teaching participants to identify and respond to allergenic foods by (a) asking to see the food packaging, (b) scanning the food label for the allergenic food, and (c) reporting the safety threat to an adult while not consuming the food. Trials without allergenic foods were also presented to ensure discriminated responding. All participants demonstrated the three correct safety responses after BST and responded differentially across allergenic and nonallergenic foods, with two participants requiring feedback (IST).
Journal of applied behavior analysis, 2023 · doi:10.1002/jaba.999