Background Video Modelling (VM) has proved to be an effective intervention strategy for adults with Intellectual and/or Developmental Disabilities (IDDs), particularly in facilitating social skills for individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). However, there is limited research with varying results investigating the effectiveness of VM on motor skills among this population (Bross et al., 2020; Bidwell & Rehfeldt, 2004; Kanfush & Jaffe, 2019; Mechling & Collins, 2012b; Schroeder et al., 2023; Shipley-Benamou et al., 2002; Waldman-Levi et al., 2019). Objective This project aimed to investigate the effectiveness of VM on both cognitive and motor skills among adults with IDDs, utilizing a weekly cooking class as the context to administer the intervention through.

ACOTE Area This project contributes to research concerning Occupational Therapy Interventions. Additionally, it required the development and execution of a weekly cooking program for adults with IDDs.

Methods This research study was a pre-test post-test single group design study. A six-week cooking class was conducted, where participants cooked simple meals with the aid of a recipe flipbook. During weeks one and six, participants were not given an associated Video Model to use and were only permitted to follow directions in their recipe flipbooks. During weeks two through five, participants were provided with both the recipe flipbooks and Video Models to follow along with. This served as the “intervention period” of the study. Data were collected at baseline (after week 1) and after the administration of the intervention (after week six). Two adapted assessments were used as outcome measures. The first assessment was adapted from the Kitchen Task Assessment (A-KTA) and served as the cognitive-based assessment tool. The second assessment was adapted from the Assessment of Motor and Process Skills (A-AMPS) and served as the motor-based assessment tool. The rating scale of Functional Independence Measure (FIM) was utilized to rate the level of independence participants demonstrated when cooking. Data was analyzed using descriptive statistics and Wilcoxen Signed Rank test via Python coding.

Results When comparing average assessment scores before and after intervention, all seven participants’ scores increased on the A-KTA. The improvement ranges from 4.8%-10.55%.
All participants’ scores increased on the A-AMPS, except for Participant F’s Scores. The improvement ranges from 6.05%-28.00% (excluding participant F). Those with the greatest motor challenges at baseline made the greatest gains in motor-based performance skills. Contrastingly, those with the least cognitive challenges at baseline made the greatest gains in cognitive-based performance skills after the intervention. The Wilcoxen Signed Rank test showed significant improvements on the AKTA and AMPS (p=0.02, 0.03 respectively), suggesting a statistically significant increase in cognitive and motor-related performance skills.

Conclusions and Relevance: The results of this study suggest that a six-week-long VM intervention is an effective strategy to facilitate both cognitive and motor-related performance skills. It also provides evidence to support what characteristics of individuals with IDDs would most benefit from VM interventions. Those with the greatest motor challenges at baseline made the greatest gains in motor-based performance skills. Contrastingly, those with the least cognitive challenges at baseline made the greatest gains in cognitive-based performance skills after the intervention.