BEHAVIORAL ASSESSMENT OF FEEDING PROBLEMS OF INDIVIDUALS WITH SEVERE DISABILITIES

• Published in: Journal of applied behavior analysis Vol. 27; no. 2; pp. 241 - 250
• Main Authors: Munk, Dennis D., Repp, Alan C.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford, UK Blackwell Publishing Ltd 1994; Society for the Experimental Analysis of Behavior
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adolescents; Adult; Behavior; Behavior Problems; behavioral assessment; Behavioral Science Research; Child, Preschool; Children; developmental disabilities; Eating Disorders; Evaluation Methods; Feeding Behavior; feeding problems; Female; Food; Food Preferences; Functional Analysis; functional assessment; Humans; Intellectual disabilities; Intellectual Disability; Intellectual Disability - complications; Male; Mental Disorders - complications; Mental Disorders - diagnosis; Mental Disorders - psychology; Reinforcement (Psychology); Severe Mental Retardation
• ISSN: 0021-8855; 1938-3703
• DOI: 10.1901/jaba.1994.27-241

As many as 80% of the individuals with severe or profound mental retardation exhibit feeding problems. Although behavioral interventions have been used to treat these problems, no assessment procedure for determining a functional relationship between a person's acceptance of food and the type and texture of that food has been reported. The purpose of this study was to test a behavioral assessment procedure for a feeding problem of limited intake. Five individuals with severe or profound mental retardation were fed 10 to 12 types of foods with one or more textures. Behavioral categories of acceptance, rejection, expulsion, and other negative behavior were recorded. Results indicated that each subject fit into one of four categories of feeding problems: (a) total refusal, (b) type selectivity, (c) texture selectivity, or (d) type and texture selectivity. Thus, although all 5 subjects exhibited limited intake, the food characteristics correlated with the problem were different for each individual. Results suggest that treatments for limited intake may be based on assessments that show the association of food type or texture to a person's rejection or expulsion of food.