Teaching A Child With Autism To Imitate In Natural Contexts Using Video Modeling

Imitation is a core deficit often observed in children diagnosed with autism. Video modeling has been shown to be effective for teaching children with autism a variety of skills, but there is little research demonstrating the effectiveness of this technique with core skills such as imitation. The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of a video modeling intervention to teach a preschool-age child with autism to imitate novel and acquired actions (with and without objects) in natural contexts (i.e., songs and toy play activities). A general case approach was used to examine the instructional universe of common preschool songs in order to select the exemplars that were most likely to facilitate generalization. In addition to video modeling, additive components that included highlighting the critical features of the video examples and prompting/fading were required to demonstrate a functional relationship. Experimental control was evident in a multiple baseline design across three imitation activities. The results are discussed with reference to previous research, future research directions, and implications for practice in educational settings.