Content area
Full text
Abstract : Life skills represent important skills needed for students with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). Technology, including immersive and non-immersive virtual reality, presents options to support the acquisition and maintenance of life skills for students with IDD. In this study, researchers examined a non-immersive virtual simulation module for delivering life skills instruction to high school students with IDD, with particular attention on food preparation-making grilled cheese on a stove. In the single subject multiple probe study with three participants, the researchers found two main results: (a) a functional relation between the intervention-virtual simulations for delivering life skills instruction-and the dependent variable of independent accuracy in making a grilled cheese sandwich on a stove, and (b) students maintained high levels of accuracy in their targeted skill (i.e., making a grilled cheese on a stove) after instruction ended.
Daily living skills, also known as independent living skills or life skills, are skills needed for individuals to live, work, and have fun within an inclusive society (Bouck et al., 2015). Life skills are critical for all individuals, including individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) who can struggle with living independently (Bridges et al., 2020; Westling & Fox, 2004). There are multiple skills that encompass life skills, often grouped into six domains: community participation (e.g., transportation), employment, self-care, domestic learning (e.g., cooking, cleaning, shopping, hygiene), social interaction (e.g., social skills), and recreation and leisure (Clark et al., 1994).
Life Skills Interventions
Researchers teaching life skills to students with IDD have used a variety of interventions. Older studies, per a review by Lancioni and O'Reilly (2002), suggested significant attention in independent living skills research to pictorial-based prompting systems and time delay prompting procedures. Researchers also suggested classroom simulations in which a natural context or environment was approximated an effective intervention when instruction of life skills within natural settings was challenging (Rowe et al., 2021; Rowe & Test, 2012). In recent decades, greater attention existed towards more advanced technology as an intervention to support teaching daily living skills, including video modeling or prompting, augmented or virtual reality, and online games (MontoyaRodriguez et al, 2023; Stierle et al, 2022).
One of the most popular and widely used interventions for teaching daily living skills to students with IDD is video-based...