Date Presented 4/21/2018
This pilot study showed that visual imagery increased activity of daily living skills in young adults with autism spectrum disorder. To date, there has been no such documented research. Limitations are outlined with a quantitative study in mind.
Primary Author and Speaker: Pat Precin
PURPOSE: Visual imagery—the act of imagining the exact replication of how a task is performed—enhances learning and performance of motor skills (Ietswaart et al., 2015). Individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have capabilities in the use of visual imagery (Soulières et al., 2011). To date, no research has examined the use of visual imagery to improve activity of daily living (ADL) performance in this population. This study examined two hypotheses: (1) The use of visual imagery by individuals with ASD will improve their level of independence while performing ADLs, and (2) individuals who have an innate ability to image will show the greatest improvement in ADL performance.
METHOD: This quantitative pretest–posttest pilot study used a convenience sample of 22 participants aged 17–21 with difficulty performing ADLs from a college for individuals with ASD. The Revised Kitchen Task Assessment (KTA; Baum et al., 2003; interrater reliability = .85, validity = .84) was used to measure performance on a cooking task before and after the use of visual imagery. The Short Imaginal Process Inventory (SIPI; Huba et al., 1982; internal consistency = .82, reliability = .80) was used to measure innate ability to image.
The intervention was conducted in eight sessions at the college (Session 1—SIPI, Session 2—KTA, Sessions 3–6—intervention, Session 7—KTA, Session 8—termination). During Session 3, participants were exposed to a series of 10 visual images for 6 s each via a PowerPoint slide show (Microsoft, Redmond, WA) of an individual washing her hands and making oatmeal. The researcher read a script describing the action depicted in each slide. After viewing each picture, participants were asked to close their eyes and imagine themselves performing that task. In Sessions 4–6, participants practiced imagining themselves making oatmeal with guided visualization from the researcher without photos.
Paired t tests were used to test for significant differences between pre and post KTA scores. Pearson moment correlation coefficients were used to examine the relationship between SIPI scores and change in KTA scores. Power analyses revealed that an N of 12 was required for these analytic methods.
RESULTS: A significant improvement (p < .001) was found in the performance of a cooking task after the visual imagery intervention. There was no relationship between innate ability to image and performance. The use of visual imagery may thus be associated with the ability of individuals with ASD to perform more independently on a cooking task regardless of their innate ability to image. Results support the need for a quantitative randomized controlled study, which was a limitation of this pilot study.
CONCLUSION: Results indicate that four sessions of visual imagery practice improved cooking task performance in college students with ASD. It is possible that visual imagery can be used with this population to improve engagement in other occupations as well; visual imagery has been known to improve performance in music and sports.
IMPACT STATEMENT: Findings have implications for the use of visual imagery in helping individuals with ASD increase their skills and engagement in everyday occupations. The use of mental imagery is a holistic type of intervention, which conforms to the current paradigm of occupation-based practice.
References
Baum, M., Edwards, D., Hahn, M., & Morrison, T. (2003). Revised Kitchen Task Assessment (KTA). Unpublished manuscript, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO.
Huba, G., Singer, J., Aneshensel, C., & Antrobus, J. (1982). The Short Imaginal Processes Inventory. Port Huron, MI: Research Psychologists Press.
Ietswaart, M., Butler, A. J., Jackson, P. L., & Edwards, M. G. (2015). Editorial: Mental practice: Clinical and experimental research in imagery and action observation. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 9, 573. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2015.00573
Soulières, I., Zeffiro, T. A., Girard, M. L., & Mottron, L. (2011). Enhanced mental image mapping in autism. Neuropsychologia, 49, 848–857. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2011.01.027
