Pages Menu

Posted on Sep 17, 2014 in Autism Spectrum Disorder

Video Modeling: Greeting a Friend to Initiate a Conversation

Students with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) need explicitly taught social skills. Video modeling is a technique in which the student watches either himself/herself or a general education peer modeling a behavior or behaviors. Front of the Class has developed five video-modeling scenes to help the student with ASD. This video models social behavior when greeting an acquaintance.

The video shows:

  • The Right Way
  • The Wrong Way
  • The Wrong Way – Fix

How to use this video…

  • Note that the actor in red represents the student with ASD.  The actor or actors in blue represent the general education peers.
  • Show the video to your students with ASD
    • Nonverbals: Pause the video and ask students questions about…
      • Body Language: Is the student in red overly engaging or avoiding?
      • Facial Expressions: What are the facial expressions of the student(s) in blue? Happy? Annoyed? Confused? Bored?
    • Verbals: Pause the video and ask the students about what the actors are saying.
      • How did the actor in red verbally engage the other actor(s) in blue?
      • Was the actor in red making a “whopping topic change?” A “whopping topic change” (WTC) is when the student with ASD says something, and others cannot follow the conversational thread as to how he/she got to that topic.  WTC’s can often confuse people or make people feel like you
        aren’t interested in them. This term is from Social Thinking.
  • Use a thought bubble
  • Invite a general education peer into class
    • You might ask the drama teacher in your school if she has students who are willing to participate.
    • Click here to print the script for this video.
    • Have students with ASD act out the scene with their general education peers.
    • Compare and contrast their experience role playing versus what they see on screen.