Preliminary findings for self-talk with self-management to support a female autistic adult with anxiety-type behaviors at their jobsite

Background: Autistic individuals are often more susceptible to co-occurring anxiety disorders. Self-management, as a behavior analytic strategy, has been found to be an effective tool for individuals to monitor one's own behavior and increase prosocial behavior. Cognitive behavioral strategies include the use of self-instructional strategies to prompt and support behaviors for an individual by changing their thought processes and their self-talk. Self-talk (e.g., inner speech or self-statements) is embedded within cognitive behavioral strategies and contributes to effective self-regulation and self-control. Objective: The current study sought to combine aspects of cognitive behavioral strategies in self-talk and self-management, respectively. The goal was to provide a manageable, non-intrusive intervention that incorporated the participant in a manner that targeted their self-identified vocational goals (i.e., reduction in reassurance seeking). Method: A reversal design was used to determine the impact of positive self-talk, measured through collected self-management data, on anxiety-type behaviors, in the form of reassurance-seeking statements, in one autistic young adult at their vocational site. Results: Results from analysis revealed a significant difference between data in the baseline and reversal phases and the intervention phases, with the Tau-U effect size being −0.984 ( p = 0.001). Conclusion: Preliminary results indicate that behavior analytic strategies used to facilitate cognitive behavioral supports decreased the frequency of reassurance-seeking statements for this individual at their vocational site in a socially valid manner.