Reducing Public Masturbation in Individuals With ASD: An Assessment of Response Interruption Procedures.

Cividini-Motta et al. (2020) compared two ways to stop public masturbation in youth with autism.

One way was simple response interruption: move the hand and say “Stop.”

The other way added redirection: after the stop, the youth had to do five quick exercises like clapping or touching shoulders.

The team tracked how long each episode lasted and how much staff time each method ate up.

Both methods cut the minutes of masturbation to near zero.

Simple interruption worked just as well as the longer redirection package.

Staff spent less time when they skipped the extra exercises.

Chen et al. (2022) looked at adults who vocalized repetitively. They found interruption alone did nothing; the redirection piece was required.

The difference is topography. Vocal stereotypy needs a demand to replace the sound. Public masturbation stops when the physical act is blocked.

Matson et al. (2011) showed a similar quick stop. They used interruption plus brief time-out to end foot-shoe fetish behavior in an adult.

Together the papers say: block the body response early; add demands only if the behavior can fill the same sensory slot.

You can save valuable session minutes. Start with the leanest plan: hand removal and a calm “Stop.”

If the behavior returns or shifts to another form, then layer in redirection or competing items.

Document which step actually gave you the gain so you do not run extra procedures forever.