SOCIAL STORIES, WRITTEN TEXT CUES, AND VIDEO FEEDBACK: EFFECTS ON SOCIAL COMMUNICATION OF CHILDREN WITH AUTISM

TLDR

The study examined how written and pictorial cues combined with video feedback affect social communication in five autistic students with social deficits. Each child worked in a triad with a typically developing peer, receiving bi‑weekly 30‑minute sessions that included 10 minutes of visual cue instruction, 10 minutes of peer interaction, and 10 minutes of video‑based self‑evaluation. The intervention produced significant gains in targeted social communication skills, with some generalization to untrained behaviors and classroom settings, and observers noted improved reciprocal interactions, supporting the use of visual cues and video feedback for social language development in autistic children.

Abstract

This study investigated the effects of written text and pictorial cuing with supplemental video feedback on the social communication of 5 students with autism and social deficits. Two peers without disabilities participated as social partners with each child with autism to form five triads. Treatment was implemented twice per week and consisted of 10 min of systematic instruction using visual stimuli, 10 min of social interaction, and 10 min of self‐evaluation using video feedback. Results showed increases in targeted social communication skills when the treatment was implemented. Some generalized treatment effects were observed across untrained social behaviors, and 1 participant generalized improvements within the classroom. In addition, naive judges reported perceived improvements in the quality of reciprocal interactions. These findings support recommendations for using visually cued instruction to guide the social language development of young children with autism as they interact with peers without disabilities.