"The ability to imitate is a foundational skill related to multiple aspects of social, play, and language development in children. However, many children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) do not imitate as effectively as their typically developing peers and therefore need direct instruction to acquire imitative repertoires. The current study investigated the effectiveness of Mirror Imitation Training: a relatively novel instructional procedure which uses a mirror as a tool to teach imitation skills. Three children with autism spectrum disorder who did not demonstrate a generalized imitation repertoire despite exposure to conventional imitation training methods were selected for participation. For all three participants, mirror imitation training was effective at producing skill acquisition across two sets of imitation targets and increased responding to the remaining untrained sets of imitation targets. Supplemental findings also showed 2 of the 3 participants required fewer sessions to criteria on set 2 after meeting criterion for their set 1 with MIT. These findings identify mirror imitation training as a promising teaching method to promote generalized imitation skills in children with ASD who do not demonstrate generalized imitation skills when taught with more traditional methods of imitation instruction."--Page ii.
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