Video modeling and daily living skills training in students with ASD

Abstract

This article includes multiple case studies that aim to explore the effectiveness of using video modeling on the development of daily living skills in middle and high school students with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). In this study we used video modeling to train five daily life skills in students with ASD. The students watched the videos according to a specific procedure. The participants in the study were four students with ASD enrolled in special education, two boys from the 8th grade, and two students (a boy and a girl) from the 9th grade. Data were collected by applying the Waisman Scale for Daily Living Skills (W-ADL) at the beginning and end of the intervention and the Observation Grid that was completed for each individual student, during each session/session, throughout the duration of the intervention. The results showed that video modeling is an effective technique for teaching a wide range of daily living skills to students with autism spectrum disorders that they were able to master, achieving 100% of them on their own, some in a shorter time frame, others in a larger number of sessions. The findings and recommendations of the study suggest that video modeling is not only an evidencebased practice to train daily living skills in students with ASD, but also that the use of video modeling is beneficial because of the reusable and portable technology. Future research should further explore the effectiveness of video modeling on the training of both daily living skills and other activities (eg: assembling a toy, playing games with peers, evacuating in case of fire, but also activities of teaching) to pre-schoolers and young school children.

Keywords

• video modeling
• daily living skills
• autism spectrum disorders