| The purposes of this study were to evaluate the utility of an indirect assessment for informing subsequent demand assessments, compare the reliability within and across two demand assessments, and assess their validity during a subsequent functional analysis. Two individuals with an autism spectrum disorder participated. Results obtained during the indirect assessment did not correspond with those obtained during the demand assessments. For one participant, the indirect assessment indicated there were several demands which were correlated with problem behavior; however, no problem behavior was observed in either demand assessment. For the second participant, the indirect assessment indicated clearly high- and low-preference tasks and the demand assessments produced opposite findings. The implication of the results for informing function analysis and treatment of problem behavior will be discussed. |
