Video Modeling As An Effective Intervention Strategy for Instructing Students with ASD

Children with ASD usually have lower levels of social interaction compared to other students. They have lower levels of play behaviors and the behaviors may be idiosyncratic or unusual. Children that exhibit these behaviors usually have a harder time having successful social interactions with their peers. However, if teachers and parents are aware of and understand the progression of play skills then they can teach children with ASD at an early age appropriate play skills and behaviors. Once a child exhibits appropriate play skills and behaviors with toys, they have a better success rate of having appropriate interactions with their peers. Teachers can teach appropriate play skills by implementing visual structuring in their instruction.

The term autism currently holds a meaning that is significantly different than when it was first adopted into our vocabulary in the 1960’s. The evolution of scientific discoveries within the field of autism research is remarkable and consistently improving. With the prevalence of autism continuing to reach sky rocketing numbers, the inclusion of children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) in the school system is extremely important. Every child has the right to obtain an education and finding new methods that provide this for children with ASD is vital. Creating programs and techniques that can be personalized to a child is the key to them receiving the most out of their education. Discrete trial teaching, pivotal response treatment and picture

A well-known ASD adult, Temple Grandin suggests caregivers of ASD children that if the environments are organized to the “think in pictures” nature of ASD children, learning will be a lot easier for such children. She explains this nature to the Language-based thinkers as she translates every word that she hears or reads into the pictures and even movies. (Grandin, 1996) According to literature reviews conducted by Dettmer (2000) and Meadan(2011), the researches up to date the papers were published, agreed on the success of using visual supports to aid ASD children to social interactions, sequence and organize their life, transitions between activities, maintain attention, auditory processing, and behavioral challenges (Dettmer et al.,

Over the years, more people are becoming aware of Autism Spectrum Disorder, ASD. The growing number of individuals who are affected by ASD have been increasing over the years. This could be do to the new DSM development of what is considered ASD or simply more children are being born with ASD. Either way, ASD is more predominate in our society today. ASD is defined in the DSM 5 as having abnormal social aspects, lack of social skills, non-verbal communications skills, deficits in development, lack of understanding of relationships, and self-stimulation through repetitive behaviors (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). Although these are not all of the symptoms caused by ASD

Autism spectrum disorders are a set of similar disorders that each have their own challenges that educators must address. Although K-12 educators are not directly responsible for the types of interventions that individuals receive before they begin school, it is beneficial for educators to be aware of how those interventions work so they may incorporate useful elements in future teaching. Additionally, educators should have a stockpile of knowledge that they can draw from. This should include current research in the field because so much of education is research- and evidence-based. Therefore, it is the educator’s responsibility to ensure that they are aware of early intervention programs and are keeping up to date with the trends and best practices in the field.

Autism disorder is an issue facing many people today. It’s an issue widely discussed in the news and social media. In Gale’s data from 2015 defines autism as a general term for a group of complex disorders of the brain development that are grouped together under the broader term of autism spectrum disorder also known as ASD. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), as of 2014, about 1 in 68 out of 1,000 children were diagnosed with ASD. This was a dramatic increase from 1 in 150 children in 1992. The CDC also

Autism is categorized by deficits in maintaining social relationships and difficulty communicating. The number of children being diagnosed with autism is steadily increasing. Therefore the need incorporate effective interventions that focus on the development of the individual child has become an imperative component for their success. The key for children with Autism to achieve academic and social success depends upon the collaborative effort that is shared among all parties involved: family, teachers, peers; mental health professionals and the community.

Autism affects 1 in every 110 children today (NICHCY, 2010). This statistic reveals a considerably large ratio of children and adults who have Autism. In society, everyone is diverse and unique in his or her own way. These differences are apparent in appearance, interest, and abilities. Differences are what shapes individuals into who they are, and who they want to become. Individuals learn differently, and the same is true for children with Autism. Autism is a neurological disorder that affects children up to three years and older. (Autism Speaks, N.D.)

Children with autism spectrum disorder will be able to receive increased services in educational settings (Hatton, et al., 2006). Teachers who educate children with autism spectrum disorder may benefit from learning the general characteristics of the disorder and evidence-based instructional strategies. Children may benefit from

Neurotypical, which is a film on ASD, shows the signs of the dysfunction and the insights on how these individuals live in their daily

Bellini and Akullian 's (2007) research provided criteria for establishing video modeling as an evidence based practice for the intervention of children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorder. Their meta analysis found effective skill acquisition, maintenance, and generalization for children ranging in age from 3 to 21 across social communication skills, functional skills and behavioral functioning (283-284). As Steiner, Goldsmith, Snow, and Chawarska (2003) explained, increasing numbers of young children are diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, and reliable identification is possible within a child 's second year of life. Early diagnosis and intervention can greatly improve the quality of life for those affected by autism (pg 1193). Smithson indicated that children with autism have impairments in executive control. Executive control includes many domains such as cognitive flexibility, working memory, inhibition, and planning(CITE real world executional control impairments in preschoolers w/ autism smitson 2013). Impairments in these domains contribute to difficulties in acquisition of play skills, communication, and functional skills when compared to their neuro typical peers. The need then to identify effective and efficient intervention strategies is imperative. The purpose of this research is to provide support of the use of video modeling with populations of young children diagnosed with autism and how these

Individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have many areas of deficits such as communication, socialization, and behaviors. They have difficulties communicating appropriately and effectively with others, which can hinder them from socializing with others. They often engage in repetitive behaviors and have a very narrow list of interests. Aside from these three main deficits, they also struggle with independently completing the daily self-care routines. Self-care skills include, but not limited to, washing hands, dressing, and eating. The target behavior for my behavior change project is independently washing hands without prompts. In order to work on the fluency of hand washing, which will be measured using a task analysis, I am using video modeling and forward chaining as methods of treatment. The following peer-reviewed articles support the overall idea of my project.

The article one emphasized social narratives or video modeling must develop and implement to assist students with ASD with symptoms range from mild cognitive, social and behavioral to severe symptoms who may be in intellectual disabilities and non-verbal (Cihak, Kildare, Smith, McMahon, & Quinn-Brown, 2012).

Autism or Autism Spectrum Disorder is one of many developmental disabilities that affect students learning. In fact, in the United States, Autism is the fastest-growing severe developmental disorder (“What is Autism,” n.d.). Also, the prevalence of Autism Spectrum Disorder is 1 in 68 children and the prevalence in boys is 1 in 42 children (“What is Autism,” n.d.). Furthermore, Autism Spectrum Disorders also affects the way a child learns and over the years, several teaching strategies have been developed to help teachers to effectively educate students with Autism. Research has also been conducted to develop and test new teaching strategies for Autism and continues in playing an important role in the education of students with Autism.

Autism is a complex disability, as the way it manifests in each child differs in severity across numerous characteristics. Children diagnosed with autism qualify to receive special services and a “free, appropriate public education in the least restrictive environment” under the federal legislation, Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (Hunt & Marshall, 2012, p. 15). Autism was added to IDEA in 1990 as a new disability category. The legislation defines autism as “a developmental disability significantly affecting verbal and nonverbal communication and social interaction, generally evident before age 3 that adversely affects a child’s educational performance” (Hunt & Marshall, 2012, p. 301). The “Rules for the Provision of Special Education” from the State Superintendent of Public Instruction of Washington state also outlines eligibility and individualized education programs for children diagnosed with autism (Rules for the Provision of Special Education, p. 11 & 46). Furthermore, the DSM diagnoses autism when a child shows “qualitative impairments” in social interaction, communication, and “restricted repetitive and stereotyped patterns of behavior, interests and activities” (Hunt & Marshall, 2012, p. 302).