Increasing Independence in Meals Using Say-Do Correspondence Training

Children on the autism spectrum who avoid or refuse certain foods are at an increased risk of developing nutritional deficiencies that warrant a diagnosis avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder. Although repeated taste exposure and differential reinforcement are commonly used in tandem to address food selectivity, escape extinction and compliance training remain controversial and caregivers may be less likely to implement procedures with high procedural fidelity if the treatment possesses low social validity (Allen & Warzak, 2000; Cooke et al., 2011). Say-do correspondence describes an event when an individual does what they said they would do, and prior research suggests differentially reinforcing correspondence versus compliance may be similarly efficacious (Deacon & Konarski, 1987; Weninger & Baer, 1990). In the current study, researchers evaluated the use of say-do correspondence training to increase independent self-feeding for a child on the autism spectrum with avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder. Results demonstrated an overall increase in levels of independent acceptance of most foods. The caregiver also favored correspondence training over more traditional applications of differential reinforcement.