The Bottom Line
Pros
- Beautifully produced videos
- Overall, well-conceived content
- Social skills presented in context
- Appropriate for a variety of abilities, ages
Cons
- Content can be tough to generalize
- Learners must be verbal
- Some content is incomplete
- Could be difficult to use in a home setting
Description
- Highly produced social skills videos.
- Overall, well-conceived and realistic
- Based on behavioral principles
- Draw from research on video models
- Website modelmekids.com includes worksheets
Guide Review - "Model Me Kids" Social Skills Videos for Children with Autism
"Model Me Kids" uses a behavioral "here's how" approach to teach specific social skills. The videos are not based on any particular social skills curriculum, but draw from their creator's experience in behavioral therapy. Plenty of research indicates that video modeling can be helpful in building social skills -- particularly for visual learners -- and these videos are highly visual and well-presented.What I like about these videos is that they are narrated and acted by young people. They also present realistic scenarios. One in particular, "Conversation Cues," actually zeroes in on the details of how to manage peer interactions in the tricky adolescent years. Short clips present detailed information about body language and appropriate reactions without preaching or lecturing. Other videos, "Time for a Playdate" and "Time for School," present similarly specific content for younger children. Only one, "I Can Do It!" seems less than carefully crafted.
Overall, however, these videos are inappropriate for children who are nonverbal. They may also be tough to use in non-inclusive settings, since their use requires practice with typical peers. The creators are in the process of developing a curriculum to support video use, and these may provide some clearer ideas about just how to use these videos as teaching tools in a variety of settings.
