The Impact of Object and Gesture Imitation Training on Language Use in Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder

Brooke Ingersoll Katherine LalondeMichigan State University, East Lansing

Imitation is an early-emerging behavior (Meltzoff & Moore, 1977) that appears to play a foundational role in the development of more complex social–communicative skills (Rogers & Pennington, 1991; Uzgiris, 1981).

模仿是學習語言的方法之一（有時感覺恆哥一些不良的行為習慣是模仿來的，以前恆哥是一個很溫順的孩子，放了一個假期回來，突然發現恆哥會摳下巴，脾氣暴躁；他還會把小弟弟提起來，這個以前是沒有的）

模仿技能

RIT uses several naturalistic techniques to teach imitation skills during play. To promote reciprocity, the therapist contingently imitated the child’s verbal and nonverbal behavior, described the child’s actions using simplified language, and expanded the child’s utterances (Warren, Yoder, Gazdag, & Kim, 1993).

For example, if the child was rolling a car back and forth on the ground, the therapist would roll another car back and forth while saying “Roll car. Car is rolling.” If the child said, “Roll car,” the therapist would respond by saying, “Roll the car” or “Roll car fast.” To teach imitation, the therapist modeled an action—either with an object or a gesture—once a minute, on average. Actions were modeled up to three times, paired with a distinct verbal marker describ- ing the action. If the child did not imitate the action within 10 s of the third model, the therapist physically prompted the child to complete the action. The therapist praised the child for imitation and returned to using contingent imitation and describing the child’s play. Language behavior, including verbal imitation, was not prompted or systematically reinforced.

Object imitation training.：For example, if the child was spinning the wheels of a car, the therapist might model pushing a second car while saying“Vroom, vroom” or might model opening the door on the car while saying, “Open door.”

Gesture imitation training：For example, if the child was spinning the wheels of the car, the therapist might model a spinning gesture (e.g., spinning finger in a circle) while saying “Spin, spin”or might model a driving gesture (e.g., pantomiming turning the wheel) while saying, “It’s a car.” All modeled gestures involved the upper extremities to ensure that the therapist could physically prompt the correct re- sponse when necessary.

Modeled actions were varied across toys to avoid associating a specific action with a specific toy.（避免同一種玩具、同一種動作）

I have some toys to play with. Watch closely and do what I do.

看我怎樣做的，你來試試

這裡有一些玩具，我們一起玩吧