Mindfulness Training Assists Individuals With Moderate Mental Retardation to Maintain Their Community Placements

Abstract

The mindfulness procedure Meditation on the Soles of the Feet can help individuals with mild mental retardation control aggressive behavior. In this study, our aim was to teach this mindfulness technique, using a multiple baseline design, to 3 individuals with moderate mental retardation who were at risk of losing their community placements because of their aggressive behavior. These individuals initially found the procedure difficult to comprehend because they could not easily visualize past anger-producing situations, but mastery was achieved when we incorporated recreating-the-scene as a prompt and added a discriminative stimulus on the soles of the participants' feet. Aggressive behavior decreased with mindfulness training, and follow-up data showed that they managed their aggressive behavior in the community for at least 2 years and thus were able to retain their community placements.