Treatment of Self-Injury in Bainbridge-Ropers Syndrome: Replication and Extensions of Behavioral Assessments
First proof that a quick functional analysis plus toy-based differential reinforcement can cut self-injury in Bainbridge-Ropers syndrome.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Doctors worked with one child who has Bainbridge-Ropers syndrome. The child hit and bit himself many times each day.
The team first ran a short functional analysis. They then taught the boy to trade a toy for adult attention instead of hurting himself.
What they found
Self-injury dropped sharply during treatment sessions. The behavior stayed low when the plan moved to the family home.
This is the first published case showing ABA can reduce self-injury in a child with BRPS.
How this fits with other research
The plan copies the classic FA-to-DR path shown in Steege et al. (1989) and O'Reilly (1996). Those studies also cut severe SIB after brief assessments.
Rooker et al. (2022) used food instead of toys as the reinforcer and got similar drops in automatically reinforced SIB. Together the papers show the reinforcer type can change as long as the delivery is dense.
Heavey et al. (2000) warned that behavioral gains for genetic syndromes often fade. The current case adds hope, but longer follow-ups are still needed.
Why it matters
You now have a road map for BRPS: run a 15-minute FA, pick the strongest reinforcer, and reinforce an incompatible response. The whole package took one afternoon to start and parents learned it quickly. Try it the next time a rare-genome child lands on your caseload.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Bainbridge-Ropers syndrome (BRPS) is a rare and understudied developmental disorder associated with medical (e.g., sleep disruption) and behavioral (e.g., self-injury) challenges. There are no published treatments for BRPS. We targeted self-injury in a child with BRPS using a functional analysis and differential reinforcement, with several extensions to common procedures. Results present the first example of behavioral reduction for self-injury in BRPS. • ABA strategies can reduce self-injury in BRPS • Evaluating multiply maintained self-injury following identification of an automatic function is important. • Sleep deficits may complicate assessment. The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s40617-022-00749-x.
Behavior Analysis in Practice, 2023 · doi:10.1007/s40617-022-00749-x