Response Interruption/Redirection

Definition

Response interruption and redirection (RIRD) is an applied behavior analytic procedure commonly implemented to treat stereotypic behavior and other responses thought to be maintained by the sensory consequences of the response (i.e., automatic reinforcement; see Rapp and Vollmer 2005). RIRD entails interrupting each instance of the target behavior and redirecting to an appropriate response (Ahearn et al. 2007). For example, if a child emits stereotypic vocalizations, then a caregiver asks the child social questions (e.g., “what’s your name?” “where do you live?” “what’s your brother’s name?”) they have readily answered in the past. Once the child answers the questions in the absence of stereotypic vocalizations, the caregiver provides brief praise and ceases asking the child questions. RIRD and a related procedure, response blocking, has produced significant change for both motoric and vocal stereotypic responses as well as with automatically reinforced self-injurious...