The effects of self-directed learning based on video prompting in improving 27 daily living skills for adolescents with mild intellectual disability in China.
Teens with mild ID can master a full year of daily living skills in a month by running their own video-prompting program on a tablet.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Three teens with mild intellectual disability in China learned 27 daily living skills. They watched short videos on a tablet that showed each step of tasks like brushing teeth or making noodles.
The teens pressed play, paused after each step, and copied the action. No adult stood beside them. The study used a multiple-baseline design across skills to show the videos caused the gains.
What they found
Every teen hit 94-98% accuracy on every skill. They needed only one short video per skill. Six skills also worked at home without any extra training.
The whole program took 27 short sessions. No teacher or parent had to give prompts during the sessions.
How this fits with other research
Yakubova et al. (2021) also used video prompting for daily living skills, but parents made and ran the videos. Huan et al. removed the adult entirely and still got big gains. This shows the power lies in the video itself, not the parent coach.
Rast et al. (1985) and Connis (1979) first showed people with ID could use picture cues and self-recording to work alone. Huan et al. swaps the old photo book for modern videos on a tablet, giving the same independence with less setup.
Obrusnikova et al. (2021) moved video prompting into a community gym for adults. Huan et al. keeps the self-run idea but targets teens and daily living skills, proving the method stretches across ages and settings.
Why it matters
You can hand a teen a tablet and a checklist, then step back while skills grow. Start with one short video per target, let the learner control pause and play, and track accuracy with simple data sheets. This frees staff time and builds true independence.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
BACKGROUND/AIMS: Students with intellectual disability often face challenges in mastering daily living skills. Existing intervention strategies for these skills typically require support from instructors, which limits the autonomy and independence of these students. Consequently, this study aims to develop a self-directed learning approach based on video prompting to enhance the daily living skills of students with mild intellectual disability. METHOD: The research employed a multiple probe across behaviors design to evaluate the effectiveness of this approach among three adolescents with mild intellectual disability in China, focusing on 27 daily living skills across three categories: cooking, cleaning, and household appliance usage. Additionally, six skills were randomly selected to assess the generalization effects of acquired skills to real-life scenarios. RESULTS: All three participants acquired 27 skills within 27 intervention sessions, achieving average task completion accuracy of 98 %, 94 %, and 96 % across three categories of skills. Participants also demonstrated improved self-correction accuracy during the self-directed learning process. Furthermore, they successfully generalized all selected skills to real-life family scenarios. These results support the high efficiency and effectiveness of the self-directed learning approach. CONCLUSIONS/IMPLICATIONS: These preliminary findings underscore the potential of self-directed learning in empowering individuals with mild intellectual disability toward greater independence and lifelong skill acquisition. Future research should explore the broader applicability of this learning approach.
Research in developmental disabilities, 2025 · doi:10.1016/j.ridd.2025.105030