University of California, Los Angeles.
J Appl Behav Anal. 1973 Spring;6(1):131-65. doi: 10.1901/jaba.1973.6-131.
We have treated 20 autistic children with behavior therapy. At intake, most of the children were severely disturbed, having symptoms indicating an extremely poor prognosis. The children were treated in separate groups, and some were treated more than once, allowing for within- and between-subject replications of treatment effects. We have employed reliable measures of generalization across situations and behaviors as well as across time (follow-up). The findings can be summarized as follows: (1) Inappropriate behaviors (self-stimulation and echolalia) decreased during treatment, and appropriate behaviors (appropriate speech, appropriate play, and social non-verbal behaviors) increased. (2) Spontaneous social interactions and the spontaneous use of language occurred about eight months into treatment for some of the children. (3) IQs and social quotients reflected improvement during treatment. (4) There were no exceptions to the improvement, however, some of the children improved more than others. (5) Follow-up measures recorded 1 to 4 yr after treatment showed that large differences between groups of children depended upon the post-treatment environment (those groups whose parents were trained to carry out behavior therapy continued to improve, while children who were institutionalized regressed). (6) A brief reinstatement of behavior therapy could temporarily re-establish some of the original therapeutic gains made by the children who were subsequently institutionalized.
我们用行为疗法治疗了 20 名自闭症儿童。在开始治疗时，大多数孩子都严重失调，表现出预后极差的症状。我们将孩子分组治疗，有些孩子接受了不止一次治疗，这样可以在个体内和个体间重复治疗效果。我们采用了可靠的方法来衡量跨情境和行为以及跨时间（随访）的泛化。研究结果可以概括如下：（1）治疗期间，不适当行为（自我刺激和回声语言）减少，适当行为（适当的言语、适当的游戏和社会非言语行为）增加。（2）一些孩子在治疗大约八个月后开始自发进行社会互动和自发使用语言。（3）治疗期间智商和社会商数有所提高。（4）尽管没有例外，但有些孩子的改善程度超过了其他孩子。（5）治疗后 1 到 4 年的随访结果表明，孩子之间的巨大差异取决于治疗后的环境（接受过行为疗法培训的父母的孩子继续得到改善，而被收容的孩子则出现倒退）。（6）对随后被收容的孩子进行简短的行为疗法重新介入，可以暂时重新确立他们在治疗中取得的一些原始治疗效果。
