Video Modeling is a scientifically proven teaching method and has been approved by the CEC (Council for Exceptional Children). Studios have been around for many years, but video modeling seems to have only recently come into the mainstream.
I did my own video modeling about 10 years ago with no idea how effective it was. I made videos out of desperation to teach my autistic son.
Video modeling provides many lessons, moments, images, cues, and more. These images simply cannot be replicated in one-on-one teaching to the extent that teaching can be done on video. VM provides repetition without the need for a master. There are no distractors in VM, no one to serve, no demands placed on you, no action needed. VM is just watching. Most children with autism are visual learners; which explains the attraction and success.
Autistic children can and do learn skills through one-on-one teaching. Many times these acquired skills tend to be robotic and are not easily generalizable. A one-on-one adjustment is not real life. The right MV can provide more than skill generation, but also a springboard for generalization along with teaching social skills. As a simple example, a video may show 2 children doing a puzzle. So, they are learning an academic skill of doing a puzzle, while at the same time, taking turns, sharing, social initiation, and talking if they can. Another example of a video is that of 2 children playing ball. Children are learning the gross motor skills of catching and throwing, following directions, language skills, and the appropriate timing of using language such as “throw it,” “catch it,” “here,” “nice catch,” etc. You can see that the opportunities to provide real life videos can be much more inclusive than teaching one-on-one skills. And again, the repetition of a video is key!
Once the skills are acquired, generalization happens easily by setting up a scene as shown in the movie, mimicking the scene, and then starting to change the environment of the scene. As an example, the child learns how to build a sandcastle from a video. He imitates the scene and builds a sandcastle. Expand and start generalizing by going to the park and building a castle, take a child to play and build a castle, build a castle on the beach, have 3-4 children work together, etc.
Kids love kids! Children learn by playing and having fun. This is what I’ve learned over the years and what I use in my videos. VM is super effective but it can also be a lot of fun and a very diverse teaching tool. Video can teach functional skills, gaming skills, social skills, language skills, and much more. Teaching skills through videos and having fun are the most effective. Children don’t know they are learning, they think they are having fun watching children play!