The Effect of Functional Communication Training Using IISCA on Aggressive and Communication Behaviors in Children with Autism

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of functional communication training (FCT) using Interview-informed Synthesized Contingency Analysis (IISCA) on the aggressive behavior and functional communication behavior of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The functions of aggressive behavior in two children with ASD were analyzed using IISCA, and functional communication training was implemented using a multiple baseline design across subjects. The study was conducted over a total of 26 sessions, divided into four phases: functional analysis, baseline measurement, intervention, and maintenance. To enhance the effectiveness of the intervention, prompting was provided using a most-to-least strategy. The results of the analysis indicated that, compared to the baseline, both children exhibited a significant reduction in aggressive behavior and a significant increase in functional communication behavior during both the intervention and maintenance phases. The findings of this study suggest that functional communication training using IISCA is effective in reducing and maintaining reductions in aggressive behavior, as well as in increasing and maintaining functional communication behavior. This study is significant in that it demonstrates the effectiveness of behavioral interventions using IISCA, thereby highlighting the potential for introducing a new method of functional analysis.