A Component Analysis of a Feeding Intervention with Siblings as Peer Models for Children with Autism

Abstract

The prevalence of feeding problems in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has been estimated to be as high as 90% (Kodak & Piazza, 2008). This can cause serious malnutrition, stress on the child and family, and limit a family's ability to engage in activities outside of the home. Various intervention methods have been used effectively to increase food consumption. Among these methods are differential reinforcement (DR) and peer modeling (PM). Two studies have been conducted that assessed the effects of PM and DR with children with ASD and both resulted in increases in food consumption (Fu et al., 2015; Sira & Fryling, 2012). However, both studies introduced DR and PM simultaneously. The purpose of the current study was to assess the differential effects of DR and PM on the eating behavior of two preschoolers with autism who engaged in food selectivity. To encourage generalization to the home environment, the peer models selected for this study were the participants’ siblings. An alternating treatments design was used to evaluate the separate effects of each component, followed by a multiple baseline across food groups to evaluate the combined effects. Results indicated that both components when implemented independently were somewhat effective in increasing certain food groups, but other food groups required a combination of components to increase consumption. Once both components were combined, we observed further increases in consumption in both participants as well as generalization to one food that had never been consumed with one participant. The results suggest that the most effective intervention using PM and DR for the treatment of food selectivity in children with ASD is a combination of both components.