Nonverbal Imitation 153

Nonverbal Imitation

Objectives: 1. Student learns to imitate the actions of others

2. Imitation becomes the foundation upon which other important

skills are based (e.g., verbalization, play, social, self-help, etc.)

3. Imitation is the basis for modeling which is a very important type

of prompting

4. Imitation facilitates a positive relationship between Student and

teacher (i.e., being like the teacher becomes reinforcing)

5. Imitation builds awareness of the environment

6. Imitation helps develop attending skills

7. Imitation is a simple task that can be used to establish or reestablish

compliance and attention. It allows Student to easily earn rein-
forcement

Procedure: The teacher demonstrates an action and says “do this.” Student is to
mirror the action of the teacher (i.e. if teacher uses right hand, he should
use his left hand). The phases start with obvious large actions and
progress to more subtle and refined movements. Imitations involving the
manipulation of a physical object (dropping a block in a bucket) or pro-
duce discrete sensory feedback (ringing a bell) are generally easier to learn.
Ones that involve moving body parts away from the body (e.g., arms out to
side) or a part of the body he cannot directly see (e.g., nose, head) are more
difficult.

As Student progresses, the verbal cue will be generalized to other phrases

which have the same meaning as “Do this” (e.g., “do what I’m doing”,
“copy me”, etc.). As a final step, the action will be named (e.g., “Clap
hands”). This builds the knowledge base for following verbal directions.
“Do this” is used at first to establish the concept of imitation, an essential
skill that provides a nonlanguage-based means of teaching a variety of
other skills.
154 The Autism Partnership Curriculum for Discrete Trial Teaching with Autistic Children

Prompts: Use physical guidance to move Student through the action. Gradually
fade the prompt to a light touch and then a slight gesture.

Entry criter: There are no prerequisites for this skill. It is one of the simplest skills we
can teach. In-seat behavior and eye contact can usually be shaped at the
same time this skill is being taught.

Mastery crit: Student performs a response eight out of ten times correctly with no
prompting. This should be repeated with at least one additional teacher.

Phase 1: Start with items that involve the manipulation of an object. Teach
each one individually in isolation. This means doing repeated trials of just
that item with no other object in view. Once Student is successfully per-
forming an action without prompting, then move in one or more distractor
items on each trial. Also, each item needs to be used in more than one
way in order to build attention and establish a discrimination. For ex-
ample, some times you should drop the hammer in the bucket, instead of
using it to pound the pegs in. Once two items are able to be rotated ran-
domly, introduce a new item. As each one is mastered in isolation it
should be randomized with all previously taught items.

Object Manipulation
Block in container Ring bell (shake or tap)
Pop up toy Stir spoon in bowl
Bang drum Throw bean bag
Ring on cylinder Comb/brush hair
Put on hat Wave streamer
Shake tambourine Pop-up toy
Tap table with block Spin top (press down)
Stack block Honk horn
Raise cup to mouth Pull lever
Shake snow globe Tap sticks
Roll car Crash car
Put on sunglasses Clap with blocks
Load/unload dump truck Throw ball
Play piano Rock doll
Answer phone Blow whistle

Phase 2: Start when Student has mastered five items from Phase 1. Choose
three items from large motor list. As each one is mastered, add an addi-
tional item for training. Sitting down should not always be the response
that follows standing up. For example, you can have Student clap his
hands while standing.
 Nonverbal Imitation 155

Large Motor:
Raise arms Arms out to side
Clap hands Stamp feet
Touch nose Wave bye-bye
Pat tummy Touch mouth
Pat head Slap knees
Cover ears with hands Pull hair
Touch elbow Touch eyes
Tap shoulders Touch toes
Tab table with hand Stand up

Phase 3: Imitations away from chair. Start when Student has learned five items
from Phase 2. Teach responses that involve going to a location away from
the chair, carrying out an action and returning to the chair. Student should
remain in the chair until teacher has finished demonstrating the action and
has returned to the chair.

Knock on door Touch spot on wall with

March extended hand
Drop marble down chute Look out window
Mark on chalkboard Put item on shelf
Put object in drawer Open/close drawer
Turn on/off light Throw item in trash
Roll car down ramp Put doll to bed
Put shape in sorter

Phase 4: Imitates another person. Teacher indicates someone for Student to

imitate and says, “Do that.”

Phase 5: Once five large motor items are learned (Phase 2), add fine motor
actions.

Fine Motor:
Squeeze Playdoh Roll Playdoh
Touch chin Touch mouth
Touch eyes Touch ears
Pick up penny & Push button
drop in jar Put small pegs in board
Make OK sign Drumroll fingers on table
Make victory sign Thumbs up
Pinch clothespin Squeeze squeaky toy
Point Spin top (with fingers)

This is an appropriate stage to begin oral-motor imitation. See the Verbal

Imitation, Phase 2 (oral-motor imitation).
156 The Autism Partnership Curriculum for Discrete Trial Teaching with Autistic Children

Phase 6: Continuous chain. Once ten imitations are learned from Phase 2, have
Student follow along with you as you link together a series of responses.
Vary the responses to maintain interest and attention and promote gener-
alization. Start with two or three responses and then continue on with
longer chains. The goal is to give a single verbal cue and defer reinforce-
ment until the chain is completed.

Phase 7: Advanced imitation. Once ten imitations are learned from Phase 2 and
five from Phase 5, go on to finer discriminations.

Discrimination Examples:
Raise one vs. two arms
Touch nose with one finger vs. whole hand
Wave bye-bye with right vs. left hand
Tap once vs. two times
Clap high vs. clap low

Phase 8: Two-step chains. This requires the use of memory. Once 20 responses
are mastered from any of Phases 1-7, begin chaining responses together
into two-step responses (e.g., put on hat and knock on door). Start with
items taught in Phases 1 and 3. Demonstrate both responses while Student
watches. If necessary, prompt him to wait until the second action is com-
pleted. Then have him perform the two responses. Once he is good at
responses from Phases 1 and 3, begin using items trained in phases 2 and 5
(e.g., clap hands and slap knees).

Phase 9: Crossing over (e.g., touch right leg with left hand; touch left shoulder
with right hand)

Phase 10: Two responses at once (e.g., touch shoulder with right hand and knee
with left hand; crossing arms)

Phase 11: Three-step chains. Same as Phase 8, but Student performs three steps
instead of two.

Phase 12: Imitates action in video. Present visual stimulus and tell Student, “Do
this.”

a. Single discrete action

b. Two-step action (simultaneous)

c. Three-step action (simultaneous)

d. Continuous chain