Reducing Problem Behavior through Delay Tolerance

12/11/25

Some students exhibit a surge in challenging behavior when a preferred item is delayed or denied. While there’s solid research on teaching children to safely tolerate delays, most of this happens in clinics and research units. Further, almost none of it includes children with Smith-Magenis Syndrome (SMS).

Our research team extended this work into a school setting, with a student with SMS. After identifying that the student’s aggression and self-injury were reinforced by access to denied items combined with adult attention, we taught a simple delay-tolerance routine. Over time, he went from waiting for a denied item safely for under 30 seconds to waiting five full minutes safely and calmly. To access the full research brief, click here.