This study aims to investigate to the effectiveness of social stories combined with video self-modeling on communication skills of a student with autism.
The subject in this study was a 9-year-old student with autism, and a multiple-probe baseline d...
This study aims to investigate to the effectiveness of social stories combined with video self-modeling on communication skills of a student with autism.
The subject in this study was a 9-year-old student with autism, and a multiple-probe baseline design across behaviors was adopted to examine the effects of social stories combined with video self-modeling. The changes of three communication skills including eye contact, the length of utterance, and conversation initiation were observed and measured during baseline, intervention, and maintenance. In addition, their generalized skills were observed. The intervention consisted of three components: (a) independent observation of social stories and video self-modeling on the computer, (b) five-minute conversational interaction between the researcher and the student during break time, and (c) guided review of social stories and video self-modeling on the computer. Data including the rates of eye contacts, the average length of utterance, and the frequency of conversation initiation were collected.
The results of this study are as follows. First, social stories combined with video self-modeling turned out to be effective in improving three communication skills of the student with autism. Second, his improved communication skills were generalized to conversations with another communicative partner. Finally, his improved communication skills were maintained in seven weeks after the intervention was completed.
The results of this study clearly show that social story combined with video self-modeling is an effective tool for enhancing autistic student’s three communication skills: eye contact, the length of utterance, and conversation initiation. This study also proved that the intervention can enhance not only verbal communication skills but also non-verbal one.
Key words: Autism, Social story, Video self-modeling, Communication skills.