Initiation and Generalization of Self-Instructional Skills in Adolescents with Autism and Intellectual Disability.
Teach teens with autism to tap play on their own video prompts and watch adult prompts disappear.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Four teens with autism and ID joined the study.
The team used progressive time delay to teach them to open an iPhone video and start their own self-instruction.
Adults gave fewer and slower prompts each day until the teens hit play alone.
The kids then tried the skill in new rooms and with new staff to check generalization.
What they found
All four teens learned to start the video with zero prompts.
Three of four still did it one week later and in new places.
The whole program took only a few short sessions.
How this fits with other research
Wilson et al. (2020) also saw fast gains when teens with autism used videos, but they compared two video styles instead of teaching self-start.
Petry et al. (2007) and Lancioni et al. (2000) showed that video modeling helps younger kids play and talk, yet adults still hit play for them.
van Timmeren et al. (2016) moves that power from adult to teen by adding a simple prompt-fade plan.
Day-Watkins et al. (2018) flip the camera the other way: they use voice-over video to train staff, proving the same clip can teach both sides of the table.
Why it matters
You can cut prompt dependence in half by teaching the learner to press play.
Record a short clip of the task, load it on any phone, and fade prompts across three to five days.
The teen gains independence, and you free your hands for other students.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Self-instruction using videos or other supports on a mobile device is a pivotal skill and can increase independence for individuals with disabilities by decreasing a need for adult supports. This study evaluated the effects of progressive time delay (PTD) to teach four adolescents with autism and intellectual disability how to initiate self-instruction in the presence of a task direction for an untrained task. Participants were screened for imitating video models prior to the study and were taught to navigate to videos on an iPhone(®) in history training. A multiple probe design across settings embedded in a multiple probe design across participants was used to evaluate the effects of PTD on initiation of self-instruction. All participants learned to self-instruct. Two participants generalized self-instruction to two novel settings. Two participants required instruction in two settings before generalizing to the third. Three participants generalized self-instruction in the presence of a task direction from the researcher to a task direction from their classroom teacher in all three settings. One participant generalized to a task direction presented by the classroom teacher in one setting, but not in the other two. All participants maintained self-instruction behaviors assessed 1 week after all participants met criteria in all settings. Self-instruction using videos or other supports on a mobile device is a pivotal skill and can increase independence for individuals with disabilities by decreasing a need for adult supports.
Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 2016 · doi:10.1007/s10803-015-2654-8