Abstract:

Imitation is an important social communication skill that emerges in the early phases of child development and plays a critical role in the development of cognitive and social skills of young children. According to research, imitation has been found to be significantly impaired in children with autism. Besides, it has been observed that teaching imitation skills to children with autism considerably contributes to the development of their social skills and play skills as well as language skills. This poster will present information about the importance of imitation skills in the education of children with autism and a number of practices applied in this education. Within the scope of this study, the research in international literature conducted on developing imitation skills in children with autism between 2000 and 2017 will be examined. The poster will present information about the aims, the subjects, methods and findings of these studies, and suggestions for further research will be provided.

Keywords:

Special education, autism, imitation skills.