The video library contains more examples of imitation and learning to help you master the material.
In this clip, the therapist imitates the child’s actions with toys and uses simple and repetitive language to describe what he is doing. About once per minute, she models an action for imitation using toys that the child is already interested in. When she models an action, she uses a clear verbal label (e.g., “in the bucket”) to describe the modeled action. You will notice that he often imitates the verbal label, before imitating the modeled play action. The therapist continues to model the action until the child imitates the action (either spontaneously or with her help). The therapist always provides the child with praise and continued access to the toys after he has completed the modeled action.
In this clip, you will see a therapist using RIT with a preverbal child. You will notice that the therapist imitates the majority of his actions with toys, even though he is not engaging in functional play. The therapist elicits the child’s attention before modeling an action for imitation by blocking his access to his toy, holding her object directly in front of his face, calling his name, and using animation. When the child does not imitate the therapist’s action after the third model, she physically helps him complete the action and provides him with praise and access to his toy of choice.
In this clip, the child is not especially interested in playing with toys. The therapist follows the child’s lead and keeps him engaged by letting him ride on her back. When she models an action for imitation, she selects a toy that is nearby and was the last toy that the child had played with. Additionally, because the child wasn’t interested in the toys, the therapist modeled gestures (e.g., a point, knocking on the wall) for the child to imitate.
In this clip, the therapist follows the child’s lead as he moves from activity to activity. She imitates his actions with toys and uses descriptive language to talk about what he is doing and seeing. When she models an action for imitation, she ensures that she has his attention by blocking his play, using animation, and holding the object directly in front of his eyes. Because the child is just beginning to engage in pretend play, many of the actions that she models are basic pretend actions. For example, you will notice that she models giving Oscar a drink and giving Oscar a shower. If he does not imitation her action after the third model, she helps him complete the action and immediately provides him with praise and access to the desired materials.
In this clip, you will notice that the therapist imitates the child’s behaviors, including the majority of his vocalizations. When she does this, the child notices and becomes more engaged as demonstrated by his continued vocalization and eye gaze towards the therapist and her toys. Even though the therapist models actions for using toys that the child is playing with, he often loses interest as soon as she starts the steps for teaching object imitation. Rather than giving up, the therapist follows him around the room and continues to model the action for imitation until he has spontaneously imitated or she has physically helped him complete the action. After the prompting sequence is complete, she returns to imitating him and describing what he is doing and seeing.
In this clip, you will see a therapist modeling an action for imitation about once every two minutes. She monitors the child’s motivation and models actions with toys the child is already interested in. This helps increase the chances that the child will see the model and be motivated to imitate. As soon as the steps for teaching object imitation have been completed, the therapist returns to imitating the child’s actions with toys, body movements and vocalizations. She also uses simple language to describe what the child is doing and seeing.
In this clip, the therapist models an action for imitation about once every one to two minutes. She elicits the child’s attention before modeling an action, and models actions with toys that the child is already interested in. You will notice that occasionally when the therapist starts to model an action for imitation the child loses interest in the activity and walks away. The therapist follows the child around the room and continues the steps for teaching object imitation until the child has imitated the action. Whenever the therapist is not using the steps for teaching object imitation, she is imitating the child’s body movements and vocalizations, and is using simple language to describe what the child is doing and seeing.
In this clip, you will notice that the child quickly loses interest in the activity as soon as the therapist begins to model an action for imitation. Rather than shying away from his frustration, the therapist quickly follows through with the prompting sequence. By doing this, she is teaching him that he needs to give her some response before continuing with his play. As soon as he has completed the modeled action, either spontaneously or with help from the therapist, she returns to imitating his actions and body movements and using simple language to describe what he is doing and saying.
In this clip, you will see a therapist modeling an action for imitation about once every one to two minutes. She models an action for imitation with the activity that the child is already engaged in, in order to increase the likelihood that he will imitate. When he does not imitate after the third model, the therapist physically guides the child to complete the action. Notice that once the steps for teaching object imitation have been completed, the therapist goes back to imitating the child’s behavior. Towards the end of the clip, she imitates his vocalizations and sound effects and he turns this into a fun social game.
In this clip you will notice that the child is not especially interested in toys and is more motivated for gross motor play. The therapist begins the interaction by imitating his body movements and gross motor play. She then incorporates interest in gross motor play into the type of action that she models (e.g., spinning in a circle). Modeling actions such as jumping, running, and skipping can be good for those children who are more interested in gross motor play than in play with toys.