It is well documented that children with autism spectrum disorders have difficulties with imitation skills. In the "old days,"we would address this with our typical gross motor imitation goal where we would say "Do this!" and the child would imitate touching head, patting belly, etc. Well, so what???? The purpose of imitating in young children is to enable them to learn new meaningful skills and to engage in reciprocal social interactions with peers and adults. Therefore, we must teach imitation skills within contexts that foster such reciprocal interactions and provide opportunities to learn new meaningful skills. Some examples may include teaching imitation during a play-dough activity with a peer, while playing with bath toys with a sibling, while playing with sand toys in a sandbox, during care taking routines such as brushing teeth and washing hands, etc. Please share some examples of teaching imitation skills in meaningful ways.
Dr. Leach when my son was around 4 years old I was trying to teach him body parts. I had a male cabbage patch doll and I used the doll to teach body parts to my son. I also used this play opportunity to teach my son how to put clothes on and how to button. My son loved the cabbage patch doll. He named him Buddy. I actually used Buddy for several life skill teaching opportunities.
ReplyDeleteI think it is very important to teach as many skills as you can in the natural environment because in the natural environment is where they will use the skill. When the opportunity is available you should use it and teach the student the skill you want them to acquire. For example going out to eat is a wonderful opportunity to teach several life skills such as money, waiting turn, patience, and appropriate table manners just to name a few.
ReplyDeleteThat's great Rhonda. You also bring out the importance of tapping into the child's interests when working in imitation skills and teaching new skills. Thanks for the post :)
ReplyDeleteOne more thing I think it is important to actively engage your child in the decision making of their actions. When my son makes bad choices I ask him very specific questions about his actions and what he can do to help with the problem. For example, my son started riping things such as sheets on the bed, towels, and even a hole in my sofa. I sat him down and we talked about the situation. I ask him why he thought he was doing it. I also ask him what he thinks would work to solve the problem. Just like any child has to be made aware of their inappropriate actions so do children with autism. I want my son to learn to take responsibility for his actions and realize that even though ripping that cloth may make him feel good it is not apporpriate. Together we decided that when the urge arises that he will go to the old magazines we have, pick one out and rip some pages. I would like to channel this ripping into something more constructive but for the time we will take this step by step to eliminate this problem
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