The Effects of Social Skills Instruction and Video-Modeling on a Student with Autism Spectrum Disorder

The effect of teaching social skills through direct instruction, video self-modeling, and self-monitoring for a student with autism spectrum disorder was examined in this study. A multi-condition reversal design was used to assess the effects of the independent variables (direct instruction of social skills, direct instruction of social skills with video-modeling, and video-modeling with self-monitoring of social skills) on the dependent variables (initiation, response, turn-taking, and eye contact). Various formal and informal assessments specific to children with autism were also conducted. The baseline (A) assessment procedures were conducted to assess the types of communication deficits that the participant exhibited that effected with his social interactions. The first treatment phase (B1) involved teaching social skills through a direct instruction curriculum. The second treatment phase (C1) employed the same teaching procedures utilized in phase two (B1) with the addition of video-modeling using a iMac. The third treatment phase combined video modeling and self-monitoring. Self monitoring was cued by a small auditory timer that prompted the student every five minutes. Video-modeling used in addition with direct instruction or self-monitoring was found to increase the frequency of occurrence of the dependent variables eye contact, initiation, response, and turn-taking. Video-modeling used with direct instruction had the greatest effect on the average number of occurrences of initiation (39.8) and turn-taking (14.4). Video-modeling used with self-monitoring had the greatest effect on the average number of occurrences of responses (56) and eye contact (11)