The Effectiveness of Response Interruption and Redirection in Reducing Stereotypes: A Meta-Analysis

The aim of the current meta-analysis is to analyze the studies that used response interruption and redirection in the reducing of stereotypes of children and youths with autism spectrum disorder, to identify the effect size of response interruption and redirection, and to determine whether response interruption and redirection is an evidence-based practice. Totally, 4452 studies were screened based on the titles and abstracts. The inclusion and exclusion criteria were applied to 50 studies, and 26 studies were excluded because they did not meet the inclusion criteria. Eight studies out of 24 studies met the standard with and without reservation. The quality assessment was conducted for eight studies. Based on the quality assessment, seven out of eight studies were included in the meta-analysis. The percentage of non-overlapping data score was 89%, the Tau- U score was 90%, and the improvement rate difference score was 89% for response interruption and redirection. Effect size calculation indicated that response interruption and redirection was effective in reducing verbal and motor stereotypes of children and youths with autism spectrum disorder, and the effect size is medium and high. The findings also revealed that response interruption and redirection is an evidence- based practice in reducing verbal and motor stereotypes of children and youths with autism spectrum disorder.