Using Video Self-Modeling to Increase Social Communication in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

The need for effective interventions to improve the social communication skills of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) that are feasible to implement in the general education classroom has been well documented. Video self-modeling (VSM) interventions have produced rapid, durable positive behavioral changes that have been generalized beyond the intervention setting for individuals with a wide variety of conditions including ASD. In this study VSM was used as an intervention for increasing the use of spontaneous verbal communication during cooperative math activities with peers by three Hispanic boys ages 5 and 6 who had high functioning (HF) ASD. No defensible intervention effects were demonstrated in this experiment. It was likely that the target social communication skills were beyond the participants’ current skill sets at least for the context in which those skills were used, a cooperative math activity. Possible implications, limitations, and future research were discussed