Enhancing conversation skills in children with autism via video technology- Which is better, "self" or "other" as a model?

The present study was designed to compare the efficacy of "self" versus "ot her" video-modeling interventions. Five children with autism ranging in age from 4 to 11 were taught to answer a series of conversation questions in b oth self and other video-modeled conditions. Results were evaluated using a combination of a multiple baseline and alternating treatments design. Thre e out of the five participants performed at levels of 100% accuracy at post treatment. Results indicated no overall difference in rate of task acquisit ion between the two conditions, implying that children who were successful at learning from video in general, learned equally as well via both treatme nt approaches. Anecdotal evidence suggested that participants who were succ essful with video treatment had higher visual learning skills than children who were unsuccessful with this approach. Results are discussed in terms o f a visual learning model for children with autism.