Parent use of DRI on high rate disruptive behavior: direct and collateral benefits.

One preschooler with severe delays hit, screamed, and threw things 60–80 times an hour. Mom and dad were taught to use DRI: they praised and gave small toys whenever their child played nicely without disruption for 30 seconds. A BCBA coached parents in their living room until the adults ran the plan with 100 % accuracy. The researchers flipped the treatment on and off four times to be sure the change was real.

Disruptive acts dropped from about 70 per hour to fewer than 5. When DRI was paused, problem behavior bounced back; when it returned, gains came back just as sharp. Parents kept the low levels at home and in the grocery store with no extra help after the study ended.

Wheatley et al. (2020) later showed the same DR logic works at school: staff used DNRO to help an autistic student wear a safety suit all day. The two studies line up—adults reinforce anything except the problem, and big drops follow.

Berler et al. (1982) had already proven moms can produce lasting gains. Their 3- to 9-year follow-up found kids still behaving like peers. Mace et al. (1990) adds the fine-grain detail: a single-case reversal proves the change is truly caused by the parent plan, not maturation.

de Graaf et al. (2008) meta-analysis bundles dozens of parent programs, including this DRI case. The meta gives you confidence the effect is not a one-off—it holds across families and cultures.

You can hand a busy family a simple DRI script and see large, fast change. Train parents to watch for 30-second chunks of good behavior, deliver praise or a trinket on the spot, and collect data. The reversal design shown here is your built-in proof that gains are real, a selling point for skeptical caregivers or funders.