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Brief Report: Effect of a Focused Imitation Intervention on Social Functioning in Children with Autism

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Abstract

Imitation is an early skill thought to play a role in social development, leading some to suggest that teaching imitation to children with autism should lead to improvements in social functioning. This study used a randomized controlled trial to evaluate the effect of a focused imitation intervention on initiation of joint attention and social-emotional functioning in 27 young children with autism. Results indicated the treatment group made significantly more gains in joint attention initiations at post-treatment and follow-up and social-emotional functioning at follow-up than the control group. Although gains in social functioning were associated with treatment, a mediation analysis did not support imitation as the mechanism of action. These findings suggest the intervention improves social functioning in children with ASD.

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Fig. 1
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Notes

  1. Outcome data based on the imitation measures were reported elsewhere (Ingersoll 2010).

  2. Gestures were not targeted for three children due to their low developmental age (<15 months).

  3. Given our small sample size, we also used the bootstrapping multivariate extension of the Sobel test developed by Preacher and Hayes (2004) to test for mediation. The results were unchanged.

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  1. Michigan State University, 105B Psychology Building, East Lansing, MI, 48824, USA

    Brooke Ingersoll

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  1. Brooke Ingersoll
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Correspondence to Brooke Ingersoll.

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Ingersoll, B. Brief Report: Effect of a Focused Imitation Intervention on Social Functioning in Children with Autism. J Autism Dev Disord 42, 1768–1773 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-011-1423-6

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