Decreasing face touching for children with autism spectrum disorder

Halbur et al. (2022) worked with three autistic children who touched their faces a lot.

The team used a short DRO plus gentle prompts. No extra signals were given.

They watched each child across several days to see if face-touching dropped.

Every child touched their face less once the DRO started.

Low levels held up even after the session ended.

The simple package worked without any fancy tools.

Wilkinson et al. (1998) ran a similar DRO-plus plan 24 years earlier. They also saw big drops in disruptive acts. Their tip: start with short DRO times for high-rate behavior, then make the times longer. Halbur’s team did not test thinning, so that step is still open.

Spinks et al. (2023) used a DR package to cut loud speech in three autistic kids. Same design, same good result. This pattern shows DR packages can hit very different topographies.

Aldakhil (2026) tried habit reversal plus sensory tools for hair pulling. Both studies used multiple-baseline design and both cut body-focused behavior. The difference is the method: habit reversal vs DRO. Having two ways gives you options if one fails.

Face touching can spread germs and trigger skin problems. A quick DRO plus prompts gives you a low-cost fix you can start tomorrow. No extra staff or gear needed. Try it during table work or play time and track each touch. If the behavior is high, keep the DRO interval short at first. You can thin later once the drops look steady.