The effects of gentle teaching and visual screening on the self-injurious and collateral behaviours of three profoundly retarded persons was evaluated using an alternating treatments design. Visual screening and gentle teaching significantly reduced the headbanging of one subject compared to a no-treatment control phase. In addition, visual screening reduced face slapping in a second subject to near-zero levels, whereas gentle teaching failed to reduce the behaviour. Both procedures failed to substantially reduce mouthing by a third subject. However, overcorrection produced immediate and substantial reductions in mouthing. The presence of toys and functional activities in the no-treatment control condition did not decrease self-injurious behaviour. Differential reinforcement procedures conducted prior to treatment had some effect on headbanging but did not reduce face slapping and mouthing.