VidCoach

Abstract

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is often characterized by a deficit in social skills, including the ability to interview successfully for jobs, a key hurdle to be overcome for independent living. One effective way that individuals with ASD can learn and retain valuable life skills is through the use of video modeling. Peer video modeling focuses on individuals imitating models similar to themselves (i.e., physical characteristics, age, ethnicity, gender, etc.), and self-modeling focuses on watching oneself successfully completing tasks. In this paper, we describe the design of VidCoach, a mobile application built to support both peer modeling and self-modeling for individuals with ASD. VidCoach can aid adolescents in work transition programs with learning and retaining job interview skills, and we present a scenario that highlights how a user might interact with VidCoach in this particular context. We conclude with a brief overview detailing our current work focused on evaluating the VidCoach application and a discussion of the potential for VidCoach to extend beyond our job-interviewing scenario to involve learning and retaining life skills in other areas.