Systematic Review of Video Activity Schedules to Teach Autistic People

Abstract

Video activity schedules are a type of video-based instruction that combines video modeling with activity schedules. To the authors’ knowledge, there has not been a comprehensive synthesis of this intervention for teaching autistic people. The purpose of this review was to synthesize the current single-case research and evaluate the methodological quality and rigor, and the outcomes, using the Single Case Analysis Review and Framework (SCARF; Ledford et al. http://ebip.vkcsites.org/scarfv2, 2016). A systematic search of three databases was conducted for studies evaluating the intervention with autistic participants. A total of 76 studies with 199 participants met our inclusion criteria. Results of the review indicated that research is primarily conducted with adolescent and adult aged males who were taught daily living skills. Race/ethnicity information was not reported for over half of the studies. Most of the studies were conducted in a school setting, but implemented by the researcher. Overall, the results of the SCARF indicated that the studies were of high quality. Identified areas for future research are to include younger autistic participants, teaching academic or play/leisure skills, and the inclusion of race/ethnic information to further understand for whom this intervention is most effective for. Limitations and further implications for research are discussed.