Establishing motion control in children with autism and intellectual disability: Applications for anatomical and functional MRI

Cox and team worked with four children who had both autism and intellectual disability.

The kids needed brain scans but could not stay still long enough.

The team used prompting plus a special reward schedule called progressive DRO.

They started with short still times and slowly made them longer.

Sessions happened in a mock MRI room that looked and sounded like the real thing.

Every child learned to lie motionless for the full MRI time.

No child needed sedation or restraints.

The shortest training took 8 sessions, the longest took 27.

Parents said their kids were less scared of medical visits after training.

TCruz-Montecinos et al. (2024) used the same DRO family to cut vocal disruptions in a classroom.

Both studies show differential reinforcement works across very different settings.

Laposa et al. (2017) paired DRL with self-control training for detained teens.

That study and Cox both reached near-zero problem behavior, proving the tactic travels well.

Greenwald (2024) mixed prompting with video modeling for labor coping.

Together these papers show prompting plus reinforcement can shape hard behaviors in tough spots.

You can teach stillness for medical scans without drugs.

Start with 10-second still times in a practice room.

Add 5 seconds each session while giving praise and small prizes.

This saves money, avoids sedation risks, and builds cooperation for future care.