Effectiveness of static pictures vs. video prompting for teaching functional life skills to students with autism spectrum disorders

This study compared the effectiveness of static picture prompting to video prompting when used as precursors for teaching daily living and motor skills to three individuals with autism spectrum disorders. The video prompting intervention was delivered on an iPad. Participants learned three out of six different tasks, which included throwing a ball overhand, walking backward, performing jumping jacks, washing a mirror, cutting a banana, and brushing teeth. The effects of the instructional methods were compared and assessed using an alternating treatment design. Results show that video prompting and static pictures are both effective in teaching correct independent skill responses to children with ASD. Although one participant showed greater gains on one of the three tasks using static pictures, video prompting resulted in overall faster acquisition.