A review of behavioral interventions for the treatment of aggression in individuals with developmental disabilities.

Brosnan et al. (2011) read three decades of papers on kids with autism or other delays who hit, kicked, or bit.

They pulled out any study that used ABA tricks to lower aggression.

The kids were three to eighteen years old and lived in schools, homes, or hospitals.

Every paper showed the same story: change what happens before, during, and after behavior and aggression drops.

No single magic bullet—teams mixed antecedent tweaks, reinforcement, and mild consequences to get the win.

Bhaumik et al. (2009) zoomed in on just one tool—differential reinforcement of alternative behavior—and found it works. Julie’s wider view says that tool is even stronger when you pair it with antecedent and consequence moves.

van der Miesen et al. (2024) added ten fresh years and ran the numbers. Their mega-review shows self-injury falls just as hard when parents run the plan at home. Julie’s older story still holds; the new data simply prove you can hand the program to caregivers and keep the gains.

Schmidt et al. (2021) show a fast way to pick the best part of your package. A five-minute brief experimental analysis tells you whether NCR or DRO will work for that one kid—exactly the kind of fine-tuning Julie says teams should do.

You don’t need to hunt for one perfect intervention. Build a small package: give a choice before work, reinforce nice hands, and withhold payoff for hits. Test the parts quickly with a brief experimental analysis, then let parents run it at night and weekends. The literature spanning thirty years—and updated by newer meta-analyses—says this simple combo still beats aggression.