Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to T L Belcher.
While at a state institution for people with mental retardation Peter averaged 5.30 hr. sleep per night. At his community home he averaged 7.87 hr. per night, a 48% gain. The responsive environment of his new home engaged Peter in positive social activities which may have led to decreased stress and increased personal comfort, enabling him to sleep longer.
Aggressive behaviors of two men with mental retardation were investigated during sheltered workshop and community employment. The first year of community work showed a monthly average reduction in aggressive behaviors of 93%. Changing to a typical work setting with regular expectations led to this decrease.
The influence of sheltered workshop and community employment on inappropriate behaviors of six people with developmental disabilities was examined. During the first 3 months of community employment the mean decrease in targeted behaviors was 94%.
Individuals with disabilities who move from one day program to another frequently show decreases in social adaption. Peter had four weeks of transition while James had none. After one month in the new program, James showed a 99% decrease in targeted behaviors and Peter a 100% decrease. Is a long transition necessary to move smoothly from one day setting to another?
Increased frequency of maladaptive behaviors regularly occurs with individuals moving from large institutions. This inquiry focused upon change in targeted behaviors exhibited after one full year living in a normalized community setting by 8 adults who had lived an average of 17 years in institutions. Results revealed that maladaptive behaviors exhibited in institutions decreased significantly after one year in a 4-person community group home. Group home staff anticipated adaptive behavior and did not recognize as many problems as did institutional staff. Appropriate behaviors started to increase very quickly and inappropriate behaviors decreased.
A 60-year-old chronically schizophrenic man who displayed verbally aggressive hallucinatory outbursts in a nursing home was placed on a contingent exercise program to decrease the hallucinations. Baseline demonstrated a daily average of 4.66 episodes per day. A 20-week intervention decreased these episodes to 0.34 per day. This 92% decrease was accomplished by contingently walking the subject in a hallway until he was quiet. Psychotropic medication increased during baseline had no effect on the target behavior. This mildly aversive program indicates that overt hallucinatory behavior seems to have at least a partial environmental base.
A blind 19 yr old severely retarded man was referred for behavior therapy because of violent and disruptive tantrums. Previous behavioral strategies had failed for various reasons. A very mild, brief, vestibular oriented physical procedure was designed to provide a low level disruptive effect. Intervention consisted of loud teacher demands to stop and work appropriately as well as guiding him through one 360 degrees turn while standing. The data demonstrated rapid and long term success in eliminating the client's tantrums. The results were interpreted in terms of a behavioral interruptor of a chained sequence allowing refocusing of client attention and increased levels of reinforcement.
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