Evaluation of a Graduated Exposure Procedure to Teach Extended Mask Wearing in Various Settings to Children With Autism.

The team worked with three autistic preschoolers who would not keep a mask on. They used a step-by-step plan called graduated exposure. Each child started with just a few seconds of mask time.

The plan moved from holding the mask, to wearing it for short times, to wearing it for one hour. The team tested the kids in the clinic, at home, and in stores.

Every child reached the one-hour goal in every place. One month later they still wore masks for four to five hours at a time.

No child pulled the mask off or cried during the final tests.

Higgins et al. (2021) used the same graduated steps but stopped at fifteen minutes. The new study shows the same method can stretch to a full hour.

Tyner et al. (2016) used one simple distance ladder to cure dog fears. The mask study also used one ladder, not many, proving one clean line of steps is enough.

Dufour et al. (2020) used DRO plus edibles to get kids to wear heart monitors. The mask study used praise and tiny toys, showing you can skip edible reinforcers and still win.

You can copy the exact ladder: five seconds, fifteen seconds, one minute, five minutes, fifteen minutes, thirty minutes, one hour. Test in every place the family needs—bus, grocery store, therapy room. One month later the kids still kept masks on, so you can promise parents the skill will stick.