A Comparison of Video Modeling with In Vivo Modeling for Teaching Children with Autism

The present study was designed to compare the effectiveness of video modeling with in vivo modeling for teaching developmental skills to children with autism. A multiple baseline design across five children and within child across the two modeling conditions (video and in vivo) and across tasks was used. Each child was presented two similar tasks from his or her curriculum; one task was used for the video condition, while the other was used for the in vivo condition. Video modeling consisted of each child watching a videotape of models performing the target behavior, whereas in vivo modeling consisted of the children observing live models perform the target behavior. After the observations, children were tested for acquisition and generalization of target behaviors. Results suggest that video modeling led to faster acquisition of tasks than in vivo modeling and was effective in promoting generalization. Results are discussed in terms of video modeling's motivating and attention maintaining qualities.     

Brief Report: Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial of Reciprocal Imitation Training for Teaching Elicited and Spontaneous Imitation to Children with Autism

Children with autism exhibit significant deficits in imitation skills. Reciprocal Imitation Training (RIT), a naturalistic imitation intervention, was developed to teach young children with autism to imitate during play. This study used a randomized controlled trial to evaluate the efficacy of RIT on elicited and spontaneous imitation skills in 21 young children with autism. Results found that children in the treatment group made significantly more gains in elicited and spontaneous imitation, replicating previous single-subject design studies. Number of spontaneous play acts at pre-treatment was related to improvements in imitation during the intervention, suggesting that children with a greater play repertoire make greater gains during RIT.     

Developmental Correlates of Different Types of Motor Imitation in Young Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders

This study used a concurrent correlational design to examine associations between three types of motor imitation with objects and three proposed correlates in 32 two- and three-year-old children diagnosed with ASD. Attention-following and fine motor ability were significant, unique correlates of imitation in an observational learning context. Attention-following was a significant correlate of imitation in a direct elicitation context. Social reciprocity was a significant correlate of imitation in an interactive play context. These associations were observed after controlling for general developmental level. Results support previous findings that motor imitation may not reflect a unitary construct for children with ASD and that different skills may underlie the performance of different types of motor imitation. Implications for interventions targeting motor imitation are discussed. This research was supported by NICHD Grant R21 HD42437 to Dr Wendy Stone.     

Teaching Reciprocal Imitation Skills to Young Children with Autism Using a Naturalistic Behavioral Approach: Effects on Language, Pretend Play, and Joint Attention

Children with autism exhibit significant deficits in imitation skills which impede the acquisition of more complex behaviors and socialization, and are thus an important focus of early intervention programs for children with autism. This study used a multiple-baseline design across five young children with autism to assess the benefit of a naturalistic behavioral technique for teaching object imitation. Participants increased their imitation skills and generalized these skills to novel environments. In addition, participants exhibited increases in other social-communicative behaviors, including language, pretend play, and joint attention. These results provide support for the effectiveness of a naturalistic behavioral intervention for teaching imitation and offer a new and potentially important treatment option for young children who exhibit deficits in social-communicative behaviors.     

A Comparison of Two Group-Delivered Social Skills Programs for Young Children with Autism

A social skills group intervention was developed and evaluated for young children with autism. Twenty-five 4- to 6-year-old (diagnosed) children were assigned to one of two kinds of social skills groups: the direct teaching group or the play activities group. The direct teaching group used a video-modeling format to teach play and social skills over the course of the intervention, while the play activities group engaged in unstructured play during the sessions. Groups met for 5 weeks, three times per week, 1 h each time. Data were derived and coded from videotapes of pre- and post-treatment unstructured play sessions. Findings indicated that while members of both groups increased prosocial behaviors, the direct teaching group made more gains in social skills.     

A Pilot Study of Parent Training in Young Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders and Disruptive Behavior

Guidance on effective interventions for disruptive behavior in young children with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) is limited. We present feasibility and initial efficacy data on a structured parent training program for 16 children (ages 3–6) with ASD and disruptive behavior. The 6-month intervention included 11 Core and up to 2 Optional sessions. The program was acceptable to parents as evidenced by an attendance rate of 84 % for Core sessions. Fourteen of 16 families completed the treatment. An independent clinician rated 14 of 16 subjects as much improved or very much improved at Week 24. Using last observation carried forward, the parent-rated Aberrant Behavior Checklist-Irritability subscale decreased 54 % from 16.00 (SD = 9.21) to 7.38 (SD = 6.15).     

Using Video Modeling to Teach Complex Social Sequences to Children with Autism

This study comprised of two experiments was designed to teach complex social sequences to children with autism. Experimental control was achieved by collecting data using means of within-system design methodology. Across a number of conditions children were taken to a room to view one of the four short videos of two people engaging in a simple sequence of activities. Then, each child’s behavior was assessed in the same room. Results showed that this video modeling procedure enhanced the social initiation skills of all children. It also facilitated reciprocal play engagement and imitative responding of a sequence of behaviors, in which social initiation was not included. These behavior changes generalized across peers and maintained after a 1- and 2-month follow-up period. Portions of this study were presented at the annual conference of the British Psychological Society, Northern Ireland Branch, April 2004.     

Imitation of Intentional and Accidental Actions by Children with Autism

To determine whether children with autism (CWA) would selectively imitate intentional, as opposed to accidental actions, an experimenter demonstrated either an "intentional" and an "accidental" action or two "intentional" actions on the same toy [Carpenter, Akhtar, & Tomasello (1998a) Infant Behavior and Development, 21, 315-330]. CWA tended to imitate the experimenter exactly. Children with developmental delay and older typically developing children (TD) reproduced only the intentional action as often as they imitated the experimenter exactly. Younger TD mostly produced only the intentional action. It is concluded that, contrary to comparison groups, the CWA did not show an appreciation of the model's intentions. Results are discussed in terms of theories of social cognition.     

Early Social,Imitation, Play,and Language Abilities of Young Non-Autistic Siblings of Children with Autism

Studies are needed to better understand the broad autism phenotype in young siblings of children with autism. Cognitive, adaptive, social, imitation, play, and language abilities were examined in 42 non-autistic siblings and 20 toddlers with no family history of autism, ages 18–27 months. Siblings, as a group, were below average in expressive language and composite IQ, had lower mean receptive language, adaptive behavior, and social communication skills, and used fewer words, distal gestures, and responsive social smiles than comparison children. Additionally, parents reported social impairments in siblings by 13 months of age. These results suggest that the development of young non-autistic siblings is affected at an early age and, thus, should be closely monitored, with appropriate interventions implemented as needed.     

Early Predictors of Communication Development in Young Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder: Joint Attention, Imitation, and Toy Play

This study investigated the unique contributions of joint attention, imitation, and toy play to language ability and rate of development of communication skills in young children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Sixty preschool-aged children with ASD were assessed using measures of joint attention, imitation, toy play, language, and communication ability. Two skills, initiating protodeclarative joint attention and immediate imitation, were most strongly associated with language ability at age 3-4 years, whereas toy play and deferred imitation were the best predictors of rate of communication development from age 4 to 6.5 years. The implications of these results for understanding the nature and course of language development in autism and for the development of targeted early interventions are discussed.     

The Collateral Effects of Joint Attention Training on Social Initiations, Positive Affect, Imitation, and Spontaneous Speech for Young Children with Autism

Joint attention may be a core deficit in autism which underlies the abnormal development of later emerging social-communication behaviors. Given this theory, researchers have suggested that teaching young children with autism to engage in joint attention may lead to collateral increases in other non-targeted social-communication behaviors. In this study, children with autism participated in a 10-week joint attention training program and collateral changes in non-targeted behaviors were assessed. Following participation in the intervention, positive collateral changes were observed in social initiations, positive affect, imitation, play, and spontaneous speech. Results support the hypothesis that teaching joint attention skills leads to improvement in a variety of related skills and have implications for the treatment of young children with autism.     

Using Video Modeling as an Anti-bullying Intervention for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

In the present study, we used a multiple baseline design across participants to assess the efficacy of a video modeling intervention to teach six children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) to assertively respond to bullying. During baseline, the children made few appropriate responses upon viewing video clips of bullying scenarios. During the video modeling intervention, participants viewed videos of models assertively responding to three types of bullying: physical, verbal bullying, and social exclusion. Results indicated that all six children learned through video modeling to make appropriate assertive responses to bullying scenarios. Four of the six children demonstrated learning in the in situ bullying probes. The results are discussed in terms of an intervention for victims of bullying with ASD.     

Using Video Modeling to Teach Abduction-Prevention Skills to Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders - Video modeling was used to teach children with autism spectrum disorder how to respond to taped stranger lure scenarios and in-situ stranger lures. A...     

Social Skills Assessment in Young Children With Autism: A Comparison Evaluation of the SSRS and PKBS

Impairment in the development of reciprocal social interaction and other social skills is one of the defining characteristics of Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). There is a need for assessment tools that will help guide social skills interventions and document outcomes. The purpose of this study was to examine the potential usefulness of two behavior rating scales with young children with ASD in an early childhood program. The results showed that the two social skills measures, the SSRS and PKBS, had adequate psychometric properties in terms of internal consistency, construct validity, convergent validity, and criterion validity with the AEPS, and were found to be predictive of how the tests would function when assessing young children with ASD in a natural setting. However, their usefulness in detecting social skills progress over time or intervention outcomes for young children with ASD may not be satisfactory.     

Brief Report: Circumscribed Attention in Young Children with Autism

School-aged children and adolescents with autism demonstrate circumscribed attentional patterns to nonsocial aspects of complex visual arrays (Sasson et al. 2008). The current study downward extended these findings to a sample of 2–5 year-olds with autism and 2–5 year-old typically developing children. Eye-tracking was used to quantify discrete aspects of visual attention to picture arrays containing combinations of social pictures, pictures of objects frequently involved in circumscribed interests in persons with autism (e.g., trains), and pictures of more commonplace objects (e.g., clothing). The children with autism exhibited greater exploration and perseverative attention on objects related to circumscribed interests than did typically developing children. Results suggest that circumscribed attention may be an early emerging characteristic of autism.     

Nonverbal Communication Skills in Young Children with Autism

Objective The study was to examine nonverbal communication in young children with autism. Methods The participants were 23 young children with autism (mean CA = 32.79 months), 23 CA and MA-matched children with developmental delay and 22 18–20-month-old, and 22 13–15-month-old typically developing toddlers and infants. The abbreviated Early Social Communication Scales [Mundy et al. 1996, Early social communication scales (ESCS)] were used to test three types of nonverbal communicative skills, i.e., joint attention, requesting, and social interaction. Both frequency and proportion analyses were done in group comparisons. Results (1) Two- to three-year-old children with autism displayed deficits in joint attention ability, especially high-level skills. (2) The deficit in terms of frequency of communication was marked even compared with typically developing infants with younger mental age. (3) Young children with autism had different nonverbal communication profile compared with all three comparison groups. Conclusion Early social-communicative difficulties in autism involve early triadic communications involving joint attention and possibly dyadic turn-taking skills, which has implications for both early screening and early intervention.     

Bottom-Up Attention Orienting in Young Children with Autism

We examined the impact of simultaneous bottom-up visual influences and meaningful social stimuli on attention orienting in young children with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs). Relative to typically-developing age and sex matched participants, children with ASDs were more influenced by bottom-up visual scene information regardless of whether social stimuli and bottom-up scene properties were congruent or competing. This initial reliance on bottom-up strategies correlated with severity of social impairment as well as receptive language impairments. These data provide support for the idea that there is enhanced reliance on bottom-up attention strategies in ASDs, and that this may have a negative impact on social and language development.