Using Video Prompting to Teach Leg Shaving to Women with Disabilities

Folgia et al. (2023) taught three women with Down syndrome or intellectual disability how to shave their legs. They used a video prompting package that showed each step of shaving on a phone. The women watched a clip, then copied the action. Researchers tracked correct steps across multiple baselines.

All three women learned the full leg-shaving routine. They kept the skill two weeks later with no extra teaching. The videos let them work at their own pace and check steps as needed.

The result lines up with Diemer et al. (2023) who used the same video prompting to teach laundry and check-in tasks to eight young adults with developmental disabilities. Both studies saw strong skill maintenance.

Cruz-Torres et al. (2020) extends the idea by having parents deliver iPad video prompts at home. Their teens with autism also mastered daily living skills. Parent delivery could let women practice leg shaving at home without a clinician present.

Bigby et al. (2009) and Spanoudis et al. (2011) are early roots. They used PDAs to auto-fade picture, audio, and video prompts for cooking and task boxes in students with autism. Folgia’s phone videos carry that self-prompting idea into adult self-care.

You can add leg shaving to the list of personal care skills taught through short step videos. The method needs only a phone and a few minutes of recording. Try filming from the learner’s point of view, one clip per shaving step. Let the woman hold the phone and control playback. Check maintenance after two weeks and re-show clips if any step drops.