An Assessment and Instructional Guide for Motor and Vocal Imitation

The Motor and Vocal Imitation Assessment (MVIA) was developed to evaluate a proposed hierarchy of imitation skills that could be used to formulate an experimentally-validated instructional guide for intervention. Imitation performance was assessed via the MVIA in 30 typically developing (TD) children and 30 children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Children with ASD and TD demonstrated similar patterns of imitation. Children had higher performance scores in object imitation, followed by body, then vocal, and lastly facial imitation. The results revealed a pattern of imitation performance that provides the basis for an experimentally-validated instructional guide for intervention.