Date Presented 04/04/19
This study evaluated the effectiveness of video modeling as an intervention tool to teach children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) to independently don a jacket. The seven participants viewed a video recording of a model demonstrating how to don a jacket once daily for two weeks. Their performance was assessed using a pretest-posttest design. The results showed a statistically significant difference (p <.01), indicating that video modeling was an effective intervention tool.
Primary Author and Speaker: Rebecca Hein
Additional Authors and Speakers: Julia Els, Katelyn O'Brien, Stephanie Anasi, Katelyn Pascuzzi, Shirley Blanchard, Emily Bollmann
PURPOSE: The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of video modeling as an intervention tool to teach children with ASD how to independently put on a jacket. Children with ASD have generally strong visual perceptual skills, therefore learning through visual information is understood easier than auditory information (Meister & Salls, 2015). Unlike typically developing children, individuals with ASD do not show brain activity when visualizing a face in the fusiform gyrus but rather the inferior temporal gyrus (Sani-Bozkurt & Ozen, 2015). There is a gap in knowledge regarding using video modeling to teach children with ASD how to perform ADLs. Improving independence in daily skills can enhance quality of life. Additional research is needed to determine whether the use of video modeling is an effective intervention strategy that can be implemented by occupational therapists.
DESIGN: This study used a pre-post test design to compare a child's baseline ability to don a jacket to their performance following 14 days of video modeling intervention. Inclusion criteria required participants to be 3-6 years old, have a clinical diagnosis of ASD, and be unable to independently don a jacket. After completing the recruitment process with flyers and word of mouth, six males and one female (N=7), met the inclusion criteria. Demographics were obtained for each participant.
METHOD: Data included a pretest, video intervention, and a posttest. The pretest evaluated the child’s baseline ability to don their jacket independently through a self-developed quantitative survey. The following five steps were scored by an OTR based on the participants' level of completion: grab unzipped/unbuttoned jacket, correctly lay jacket down with hood closest to child, place both hands in arm holes, lift arms to swing jacket over head and, bring arms down. After the pretest, children viewed the video intervention once daily for 14 days. The video was constructed using adult-modeling filmed from two different points of view, mirrored and over the shoulder of the instructor. Parents/guardians used their judgement to score how the child modeled the instructions in the video using a paper-based survey. The survey included the following four criteria: my child watched the video, my child initiated the task of putting on a jacket, my child was able to complete the task of putting on his or her jacket without help, and my child required my help to put on a jacket. After 14 days of intervention, children were scored using the pretest survey to complete the posttest.
RESULTS: The pre-post test of the participants ability to independently don their jacket were each individually scored out of 10 possible points. Scoring a 10/10 indicated that the participants independently completed all steps required. The paired T-Test, demonstrating the pre-post test scores measuring the participants’ ability to independently don their jacket indicated statistical significant differences among the sample size (p <.01). Six of the seven participants showed improvements in post test scores from the pre-post test. These results suggest that video modeling is an effective intervention strategy for teaching children with autism how to complete UE dressing.
CONCLUSION: In this study, participants with ASD demonstrated improved abilities to independently don their jacket after following a 14-day video modeling intervention. The results support existing literature regarding use of video modeling to improve targeted skills. Therefore, the use of video modeling can broaden the scope of intervention strategies for OT. Therapists may use the video modeling strategy for implementing other targeted skills for children with ASD in order to promote independence.
References
Meister, C., & Salls, J. (2015). Video modeling for teaching daily living skills to children with autism spectrum disorder: A pilot study. Journal of Occupational Therapy, Schools, & Early Intervention, 8(4), 307-318. doi:10.1080/19411243.2015.1107005
Sani-Bozkurt, S., & Ozen, A. (2015). Effectiveness and efficiency of peer and adult models used in video modeling in teaching pretend play skills to children with autism spectrum disorder. Education and Training in Autism and Developmental Disabilities, 50(1), 71-83.
