| Newly developed technologies are being increasingly applied to clinical interventions for children with autism, like video modeling. When implemented on traditional technology (e.g., televisions), video modeling interventions have been found to increase children with autism's demonstration of a range of social-communicative and adaptive skills. Recently, there has been much positive speculation regarding the use of portable handheld devices (e.g., the iPad®) in video modeling interventions. However, there is a lack of empirical research examining the effectiveness of implementing video modeling interventions on portable handheld technology.;The present study used a multiple baseline design across children and an adapted alternating treatments design within child to compare the effectiveness of video modeling interventions implemented on the iPad® to video modeling interventions implemented on the traditionally used television. The same five children acquired the target behaviors across treatment conditions and video modeling on the iPad® effectively promoted skill acquisition, generalization, and maintenance. However, results provide preliminary evidence that delivering video modeling interventions on the iPad® actually slows acquisition of the target behaviors. All children preferred the iPad® but most learned slower on this medium. Differences in rate of acquisition were not related to differences in child preoccupation with the used device, attention to the presented video, or the presence of environmental distractions in the iPad® treatment settings. While generalization and maintenance of acquired skills were slightly higher following video modeling on the iPad®, these differences were inconsistent and unlikely to lead to meaningfully different treatment outcomes. Taken together, these findings indicate that video modeling interventions implemented on the iPad® may be slightly less efficient than video modeling on the television. However, these findings are preliminary and there is a need for replication and additional research. |
