Imitation in ASD
Imitation in ASD
- Description
Imitation is believed to be related to the development of other skills in young children including play, language, and social interaction. Poor imitation skills are a diagnostic marker for ASD and distinguishes children with ASD from children with developmental delay, speech impairment, and mental retardation. Children who have weaker imitation skills typically present more severe ASD symptoms.
- History
Trainings targeting imitation have generally been unsuccessful in promoting generalization of imitation skills outside the clinic. However, a recently developed approach to teaching imitation skills, reciprocal imitation training (RIT) has been more successful. Video Modeling has also been successful in teaching imitation to those with autism. A study comparing RIT to Video Modeling found that both were effective in teaching object imitation skills to children with ASD.1
Citations
1. Cardon TA et. al. Promoting Imitation in Young Children with Autism: A Comparison of Reciprocal Imitation Training and Video Modeling.J Autism Dev Disord. 2010 Aug 10. PMID 20697791
