Decreasing drooling through techniques to facilitate mouth closure.

A single case ABA experimental design is presented in which techniques to facilitate mouth closure were hypothesized to decrease drooling. The subject was an 11-year-old male with mental retardation and cerebral palsy. Baseline 1 consisted of 10 half-hour sessions of play, followed by 1-hour periods during which the amount of saliva collected on an absorbent bib was measured and recorded. The subsequent treatment phase of 4 weeks was identical to the baseline except that a half-hour period of intervention was substituted for the half-hour of play. Intervention involved providing jaw control with intermittent tapping and jiggling, stroking the upper gum, and giving juice with jaw control. Baseline 2 consisted of 10 sessions identical to baseline 1. Results indicate that the amount of saliva leaving the mouth was a function of the presence or absence of intervention.