Problem Statement
Autism is a spectrum disorder, and autistic children demonstrate problems in social behavior and interactions. Autistic children fail to build relations with the other people because they are unaware of the environment round them, and they experience emotional deficits (Charlop et al. 372). As a result, autistic children are usually not involved in interactions, and they do not demonstrate any reaction to the environmental stimuli (Dauphin, Kinney, and Stromer 238).
The problem is in the fact that these features and aspects of the autistic children’s behaviors cause their inability to develop the most important daily living skills and skills associated with the interaction with other people. Thus, autistic children experience difficulties with bathing, dressing, street crossing, and shopping (Delano 34).
Furthermore, it is a difficult task to teach autistic children the daily living skills, and it is important to propose a method or a technique that is effective to teach autistic children and train such necessary skills as communication skills, ordering, and shopping skills. The effective solution to the problem is necessary because deficits in these skills make autistic children vulnerable, and their daily life becomes full of problems and barriers.
Goal of the Project
Video modeling can be discussed as an effective method to teach autistic children social skills because of the autistic children’s ability to imitate patterns (Wilson 1819). The proposed video model is focused on providing a solution to the problem of training such skills as initiating conversations and shopping. From this point, the goal of the proposed video model based on the imitation of doing groceries at a superstore is to teach the autistic children social interactions and skills.
Project Implementation
The proposed video model will be based on imitating people’s activities when they do their groceries at a superstore, including such large stores as Target. The video model will include several parts. The first part, the actual video model, will present the appropriate behavior model typical for a person when he or she does shopping. The video model will present patterns from the first-person perspective.
An autistic child will be able to observe the right way of doing grocery shopping from the first-person perspective in order to imitate the shown patterns and models later. The video model will demonstrate how to use a usual grocery list; how to interact with people met at a store; and how to purchase necessary items.
For example, the model will explain whom to ask for the right direction; whom to talk to if a person cannot find something in a store; how to remain focused on the grocery list and not be distracted; what social cues can be observed during the process; how to greet and meet a cashier; and what are the norms of the appropriate behavior for doing grocery shopping.
The second part of the proposed video is a short quiz for autistic children to evaluate their understanding and learning. The quiz will include multiple choice questions for which autistic children will choose the right answer based on the demonstrated behavior model. The important part of the video model is the game component.
An autistic child will have an opportunity to use a gamified version of the video model. This video game will incorporate avatars for positive reinforcement and development of necessary skills. The video game will have features of a quest during which the user will be able to progress while playing according to the previously shown scenario.
The video model will be developed according to the needs of autistic children, with the focus on the role of visual and auditory stimuli in the teaching process. The model presented in the first part of the video will be accompanied with the background narration and subtitles for reading because autistic children actively react to both visual and auditory stimuli. The completed version of the video will be distributed to be used with iPads.
Users’ Feedback
Autistic children are expected to react to the video model positively because it will be developed according to the needs characteristic for children with autism. Thus, autistic children prefer to imitate observed behavioral patterns that are demonstrated several times. The video model can be demonstrated many times, and this feature enables autistic children to imitate shown patterns and models effectively (Sansosti and Powell-Smith 162).
Furthermore, children with autism positively react to the narration and visual stimuli provided along with the model as cues. Following the model, autistic children are encouraged to distinguish objects, people, words, and patterns while forming their own behavioral pattern that is appropriate for the situation of doing grocery shopping (Singh, Rathore, and Chauhan 507).
The short quiz provides children with more cues on actions appropriate for the concrete social situation. In addition, autistic children are positively reinforced through game-methods, and they can demonstrate positive results associated with gaming and developing skills to act independently.
Advantages of Using the Video Model in Different Environments
The proposed video model is effective to be used by teachers, within the home settings, and within the hospital settings because while using the video model with the help of iPads, it is possible to discuss it as cost-effective and time-saving (Ergenekon et al. 202). The variety of spheres where the video model can be used for teaching authentic children contributes to discussing the project’s benefits and social significance because many organizations and individuals can become interested in using the video model.
The Appropriateness of Using the Video Model to Work with Autistic Children
Autism is a spectrum disorder that is associated with problems with the person’s neural development. According to the information provided by Singh, Rathore, and Chauhan, autism “affects about one in every 150 kids on average” (Singh, Rathore, and Chauhan 507). As a result, the number of families facing the problem of upbringing autistic children is extremely large in the Western countries.
According to the American Psychological Association’s data, autism affects children’s social communication, and the observed deficits in social interactions are associated with children’s problems in responding to any environmental factors or stimuli (Kenzer et al. 690).
The proposed project aims to solve the problem of deficits in autistic children’s social skills and interactions with the focus on teaching the behaviors with the help of the video model. This method is chosen because much evidence supports the idea of using video models as effective tools to teach children with autism necessary social skills.
Video modeling is the most effective method to work with autistic children in the classroom and home settings. According to Delano, video modeling is a good alternative to traditional methods or in-vivo models because it enables autistic children to learn in the natural environment and to avoid the stress associated with contacting people directly (Delano 34).
Moreover, the main focus is on the visual stimuli important to autistic children because they frequently use “visual support systems for making sense of their environment” (Ergenekon et al. 200). Furthermore, video modeling is a highly adaptable method that can be implemented by not only teachers and psychologists but also by parents (Smith et al. 165).
This technology is advantageous for teaching autistic children because several demonstrations and multiple exemplars of possible social situations associated with shopping and interacting are available with the help of the video model. The video model facilitates learning with references to repeating predictable behaviors and patterns imitated by children (Ayres and Langone 17).
In addition, it is possible to decrease the role of autistic children’s development of attention and language in order to work with video models. Furthermore, the advantages of video modeling are also in the fact that video models can “increase independence by reducing the need for an instructor to promote learning” (Blum-Dimaya et al. 352). From this point, video modeling can be discussed as an effective alternative to the traditional methods of teaching social interactions.
The video model presented from the first-person perspective is more advantageous for autistic children than the model presented from the third-person perspective because children more actively imitate models demonstrating as actual actions perceived by the user of the video.
According to Akmanoglu, Yanardag, and Batu, “video modeling is being used effectively in teaching discrete and chained skills, social, communicational and other functional skills to individuals with autism” because of the focus on the sensory stimulation (Akmanoglu, Yanardag, and Batu 17). In this case, the stimulation of senses associated with seeing and hearing in autistic children leads to reinforcing their development of social skills intrinsically (Ayres and Langone 16).
In addition, video models with the first-person perspective stimulate autistic children’s independence necessary for effective social interactions (Blum-Dimaya et al. 352). Furthermore, the video model is accompanied with the audio narration that is a “critical component to video modeling” (Smith et al. 174). As a result, the use of the first-person perspective in a video model game is effective to create the atmosphere of the real action for an autistic child.
The proposed project is also significant to be implemented because it includes the game component. The idea of gamification effectively works in relation to affecting emotions and behaviors of autistic children because of resulting in positive reinforcement. The game contributes to developing the autistic child’s developed mindset with the focus on stimulating his or her brain and neural activities.
The situation of a game involved in the video game is important to evoke autistic children’s emotions associated with social activities because they need to develop their skills in responding to stimuli (Charlop et al. 380). The idea of gamification adapted to the video model is important to create the environment for the user in which he or she can imitate certain behaviors while developing social skills.
The video model will address the needs of the families in which autistic children are brought up because they will receive the opportunity to learn the basic principles of social interactions and doing grocery shopping. The skills that are taught with the help of the video model and game are important for autistic children in order to help them become more independent during their daily social activities.
Works Cited
Akmanoglu, Nurgul, Mehmet Yanardag, and Sema Batu. “Comparing Video Modeling and Graduated Guidance together and Video Modeling alone for Teaching Role Playing Skills to Children with Autism”. Education and Training in Autism and Developmental Disabilities 49.1 (2014): 17-31. Print.
Ayres, Kevin, and John Langone. “A Comparison of Video Modeling Perspectives for Students with Autism”. Journal of Special Education Technology 22.2 (2007): 15-30. Print.
Blum-Dimaya, Alyssa, Sharon Reeve, Kenneth Reeve, and Hannah Hoch. “Teaching Children with Autism to Play a Video Game Using Activity Schedules and Game-Embedded Simultaneous Video Modeling”. Education & Treatment of Children 33.3 (2010): 351-370. Print.
Charlop, Marjorie, Brian Dennis, Michael Carpenter, and Alissa Greenberg. “Teaching Socially Expressive Behaviors to Children with Autism Through Video Modeling”. Education & Treatment of Children 33.3 (2010): 371-393. Print.
Dauphin, Melissa, Elisabeth Kinney, and Robert Stromer. “Using Video-Enhanced Activity Schedules and Matrix Training to Teach Sociodramatic Play to a Child with Autism”. Journal of Positive Behavior Interventions 6.4 (2004): 238-250. Print.
Delano, Monica. “Video Modeling Interventions for Individuals with Autism”. Remedial and Special Education 28.1 (2007): 33-42. Print.
Ergenekon, Yasemin, Elif Tekin-Iftar, Alper Kapan, and Nurgul Akmanoglu. “Comparison of Video and Live Modeling in Teaching Response Chains to Children with Autism”. Education and Training in Autism and Developmental Disabilities 49.2 (2014): 200-213. Print.
Kenzer, Amy, Michele Bishop, Arthur Wilke, and Jonathan Tarbox. “Including Unfamiliar Stimuli in Preference Assessments for Young Children with Autism”. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis 46.3 (2013): 689-694. Print.
Sansosti, Frank, and Kelly Powell-Smith. “Using Computer-Presented Social Stories and Video Models to Increase the Social Communication Skills of Children with High-Functioning Autism Spectrum Disorders”. Journal of Positive Behavior Interventions 10.3 (2008): 162-178. Print.
Singh, Priyamvada, Rohit Rathore, and Rashmi Chauhan. “A Gaming Model for Teaching Autistic Children Basic Traffic Rules”. International Journal of Information and Education Technology 2.5 (2012): 507-509. Print.
Smith, Molly, Kevin Ayres, Linda Mechling, and Katie Smith. “Comparison of the Effects of Video Modeling with Narration vs. Video Modeling on the Functional Skill Acquisition of Adolescents with Autism”. Education and Training in Autism and Developmental Disabilities 48.2 (2013): 164-178. Print.
Wilson, Kaitlyn. “Teaching Social-Communication Skills to Preschoolers with Autism: Efficacy of Video Versus In Vivo Modeling in the Classroom”. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders 43.8 (2013): 1819-1831. Print.