A comparison of differential reinforcement and noncontingent reinforcement to treat food selectivity in a child with autism.

One young learners boy with autism refused most foods.

The team tested two ways to help him eat new foods.

They used DRA plus escape extinction and NCR plus escape extinction.

Each method ran on different days to see which worked better.

Parents helped serve the meals and kept data on every bite.

Both methods got the boy to accept new foods and cut problem behavior.

DRA gave a sticker for each bite. NCR gave a sticker every 30 seconds no matter what.

Escape extinction stayed the same: no leaving the table until the meal ended.

Mom and Dad liked NCR more because it felt easier to use at home.

Kettering et al. (2018) also found NCR beats extinction alone when a cue has turned into a CMO-R.

Their study and ours both show that free reinforcement can calm problem behavior faster than making kids earn it.

Rogers-Warren et al. (1976) tested DRA versus extinction in monkeys and saw the same edge for DRA.

Bensemann et al. (2015) warns that DRO can accidentally reward other unwanted acts.

Our study did not use DRO, but the caution still matters when you pick a differential-reinforcement plan.

If you treat food refusal in young kids with autism, start with NCR plus escape extinction.

It works as well as DRA and parents will actually use it.

Try 30-second NCR first, then fade the timer as eating improves.