An Assessment and Instructional Guide for Motor and Vocal Imitation.

Espanola Aguirre et al. (2019) watched kids with and without autism copy four kinds of actions.

They scored how well each child copied object moves, body moves, sounds, and facial expressions.

The goal was to see which imitation type is easiest and which is hardest for both groups.

Every child, autism or not, followed the same ladder.

Object actions were easiest, then body moves, then vocal sounds, and facial expressions were hardest.

This order gives teachers a ready-made sequence to follow.

Gowen et al. (2020) later showed adults with autism can hit typical scores if you first say, “Watch closely.” That extends the ladder upward—grown-ups still fit the order when prompted.

Sparaci et al. (2015) saw the same two groups learn a new motor task at the same speed, yet kids with autism used odd movement paths. Their finding sits beside Elaine’s: the ladder stays intact, but the style of movement may look different.

Izadi-Najafabadi et al. (2015) found kids with autism learn motor sequences without conscious thought but fail when they must talk themselves through it. This warns us to keep the ladder, yet skip heavy verbal explanations while we climb it.

Start every imitation program with object actions—stacking blocks, pushing cars. Move to body moves—clap, jump. Add sounds last, faces last of all. This single sequence works for both neurotypical kids and kids with autism, so one lesson plan fits mixed groups. Drop extra words, watch movement style, and give an attention cue before each model. You will save hours of re-planning and see quicker gains.