Teaching daily living skills to an adolescent with autism in a real-life setting

Abstract

Individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) experience difficulties with daily life skills (DLS). Difficulties with DLS create obstacles to independence. To move into adulthood more smoothly, it is critical to teach some DLS during certain periods, such as adolescence. In the present study, the skills of preparing an instant soup, setting the dinner table and placing dirty dishes in the dishwasher were taught to a 16-year-old adolescent with ASD via video modelling presented on a tablet PC. Maintenance and generalisation of the skills, as well as the opinions of the participant, his parents and his brother about the study, were examined. Finally, the participant's level of non-target information acquisition regarding the skills was examined. A multiple probe design across skills, within single-case experimental research designs, was employed in the study. The results show that the participant acquired, maintained and generalised the target skills. The participant and his family members were satisfied with the study.