A Comparison of Video Modeling with Versus Without Play Narrations on Toy Play for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder Who Demonstrate Delayed Echolalia

Abstract

Video modeling (VM) is an evidence-based intervention for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The purpose of this study was to analyze the relative effect of video modeling with versus without play narrations for children with ASD who demonstrate delayed echolalia. An experimental single-case adapted alternating treatments design was employed to compare the relative effects of video modeling with versus without play narrations on toy play for three children with ASD who demonstrate delayed echolalia with screen media. Overall, VM was effective at teaching novel toy play actions to all three children in the study. However, the relative effect of narrated versus unnarrated VM was differential across the three children in the study. For the first child, there was a slight relative effect in favor of narrated over unnarrated VM, but the VM interventions may have had a negative effect on overall toy play. For the second child, there was a clear relative effect in favor of unnarrated over narrated VM, which might have been associated with his low levels of spontaneous vocalizations and verbalizations. For the third child, the clearest relative effect for narrated over unnarrated VM was observed. However, the VM intervention was associated with increases in repetitive, stereotypic play behaviors for this child.