Using video modeling to teach complex social sequences to children with autism.

K et al. filmed two typical peers acting out short social scripts. The clips showed greetings, sharing toys, and taking turns.

Five children with autism watched the 2-minute videos on a laptop. Then they entered a play area with the same toys and peers.

After only a few viewings every child started play faster and stayed in the interaction longer. The gains held 1-2 months later and spread to new classmates.

Lancioni et al. (2000) had earlier shown that video modeling alone failed unless kids first described what they saw. K et al. skipped that verbal step yet still got good play. The difference is the skill target: E taught full cooperative play, K taught simple initiation.

Fullana et al. (2007) ran the same year and also used peer clips inside group social-skills class. Both teams saw big prosocial jumps, showing the method works in one-on-one or group setups.

Wilson et al. (2020) later moved the idea to teens and cooking. Their comparison proved video modeling beats video prompting for speed and errors, strengthening the overall evidence base.

You can build a quick video library with classmates or siblings and play it on any tablet. No extra narration or worksheets are needed for basic social starts. Try it during recess or free-choice time and watch for faster peer entry and longer shared play.