2. How does one do that?

A: It is not as difficult as you might imagine to make children appear to be more advanced or acting more appropriately. Here are 3 basic methods we use:

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     1. Imitation: If your child can follow directions or mimic your behavior, you can use this technique  We often use this method when working with language skills. Take video of your child's words. It really helps to get a few verbs.  It is easy to snip the words off of the original video and store them in the video editing program (simple cut and paste). The individual words can then be combined into short sentences and placed into a 2-3 minute video. If your child has trouble with morphemes such as irregular past tense words (e.g. gone, went, read, saw) have the child imitate when you say them and make a video of the child successfully using them. If you are a parent or teacher, make sure to consult with your Speech/language Pathologist to find skills that are developmentally appropriate.

     2. Role-play: A fun way to make VSM video is through role-playing. This is especially effective for building social skills and for extinguishing inappropriate behaviors. For example, we worked with 2 boys who were having daily tantrums in school. We observed and used a functional behavior assessment to determine triggers for the tantrums. We came up with 4 scenarios and each one became a scene in their VSM video. One of these triggers was not being called on when they knew an answer. So we acted that out giving prompts to the actors about what to do "everyone raise your hands and Ms. B is going to call on Jenni. Ian you need to look at me and smile when she does this. got it? Places everyone. action!" we added a very short clip later of Ian saying "I handled that well. Ms. B will call on me later." We combined the 4 scenes, showed the children (7 yr olds) the video, and there were no more tantrums over the last 6 mos. of school. We also used storyboards with stick figures to draw the "script". Kids loved doing this.

     3. Let the cameras roll:  If the child is not cooperative and has trouble following directions, you may need to set the camera up and let it roll in order to capture rare behaviors. We often use this method for teaching eating skills. If a child only puts food to mouth twice during the lunch period you can capture those 2. Over several days you will gain a small collection. Use the editing software to cut out each example of using the spoon and put it together. Voila, you have a video of a child rapidly eating lunch.

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3. What equipment do I need to get started?

A: You need something that enables you to capture Video (camcorder, smart phone, iPad, etc.) and you need video editing software (don't panic! good video editing apps can be purchased for under $5.00. Some for PCs are free). All tend to be user-friendly.

4. Does it work for anyone? Does it have limits?

A: I think there are limits that are based on age, degree of cognitive disability, and the type of behavior being addressed. Placing a lowest limit on use can be tricky. For some years, I believed the lower limit for VSM was the 4th birthday. However, almost all of my work with 3 yr olds dealt with social skills. The Early Intervention people in MN made me see the light. They were very successful with children as young as 2 (see the poster session on the Resource page). They worked mainly with language and functional skills. Thus, the lower limit is unknown, and may be behavior-specific <- There's a great dissertation or thesis project.

5. Are there any dangers associated with VSM?

A: No, not with the method. It is fun and enjoyable and only positive images are used. The only possible danger is if the behavior selected is too far beyond the child's level. I wouldn't be able to learn guitar if I mimicked playing while Jimi Hendrix was playing in the background. I might be able to learn some chords, because that is nearer to my level. So make sure you work with your friendly neighborhood therapist for any skills in language or physical development. Make sure they are within reach.