Video Modeling for Children and Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Meta-Analysis

Teresa Thompson, Fielding's School of Psychology

The objective of this research was to conduct a meta-analysis to examine existing research studies on video modeling as an effective teaching tool for children and adolescents diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Study eligibility criteria included (a) single case research design using multiple baselines, alternating treatment designs, or reversal designs; (b) evaluation of the efficacy of video modeling as an intervention strategy for children or adolescents exclusively diagnosed with ASD; (c) outcome measures that targeted social skills, communication skills, or behavioral functioning; (d) graphically presented data; (e) more than 1 participant; (f) a minimum of 3 data points in each phase for each participant; and (g) publication in English in a peer-reviewed journal between 1994 and 2010. Two competing nonoverlap-based single case effect size approaches were compared: (a) the Nonoverlap of All Pairs (NAP; Parker & Vannest, 2009), and (b) the newer TauU method which controls for trend (Parker, Vannest, Davis, & Sauber, 2010). Positive and statistically significant effect sizes were found: 12 in the upper moderate range and 4 in the large effect size range including these results using data obtained from baseline to intervention, baseline to maintenance, and baseline to follow-up: TauU (k = 35, N = 116), = 0.74, 95% CI [0.71; 0.77], p < .001; NAP (k = 35, N = 116), = 0.87, 95% CI [0.84; 0.91], p < .001. Additional study findings indicated there was a statistically significant difference between various groups of communication levels: c2(2, N = 29 = H =5.88, p = .05), with a mean rank of 19.40 for nonverbal (N = 5), 16.87 for verbal (N = 15), and 9.44 for low verbal (N = 9), indicating that scores of video modeling usage were highest for the group that was nonverbal. Results support video modeling as an effective intervention strategy that meets criteria as an evidence-based practice that can successfully address social and communication skills, as well as behavioral functioning in children and adolescents with ASD. These findings will encourage general use of video modeling and thus promote independent functioning of students with ASD in their least restrictive environments.

Keywords: autism spectrum disorder, meta-analysis, teaching strategies, video modeling