How do I use video self-modeling to teach better eating habits to my child ?
Increase the variety of foods eaten
Slow down your child ’ s eating
AUTISM THERAPY
In the case of learning helpful eating behaviors , your child will watch his / herself on video either eating a variety of foods or using appropriate table manners . Below are some general examples of how to create a VSM video to improve eating behaviors , but you can adjust these steps to match your child ’ s specific needs .
How do I use video self-modeling to teach better eating habits to my child ?
Below are two examples of how to use VSM to help your child improve eating habits based on the questions at the beginning of this article .
Increase the variety of foods eaten
If your child eats a very limited number of foods , this can limit his / her ability to socialize and impact nutritional health . You can address this problem by making a short , positive video using your smartphone or tablet . Here ’ s how :
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Tell your child he / she is going to star in a movie you ’ re going to make .
Let your child know the movie will help him / her eat more foods , which will make the body healthier and will help him / her make friends ( think of all the social interactions that happen in a school cafeteria around trading foods — going to birthday parties is also easier when your child can eat the foods provided ).
Using your smartphone or tablet , record your child chewing one of the foods he / she loves . Shoot this from a few different angles .
Record images of a variety of new foods on a plate .
Now ask your child to take one of the new foods and put it up to his / her mouth . The child does NOT have to put it into his / her mouth . If you can , show the child smiling or looking content as he / she is bringing the new food from the plate to the open mouth . Repeat this with several new foods .
Edit the video to show your child smiling , bringing a new food to his / her mouth , and chewing happily ( remember , the chewing segment is actually a clip of him / her eating a favorite food , not a new food ). Show this
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12 . sequence with several new foods . Insert shots of the plate of new foods between each sequence . The editing can be completed using free editing software such as iMovie or KineMaster .
Insert an image of your child looking happy at the beginning and end of your VSM video .
At the start of the video , say something like , “ This is Colin eating new foods .”
At the end of the video , say something positive like , “ Great job trying new foods , Colin !”
During editing , remove any errors or images of your child frowning at the new foods . The final video should only show your child happily bringing new foods to his / her mouth , chewing , and swallowing .
The final video should be between 30 and 60 seconds long . Show the video to your child every day or two and praise him / her every time a new food is tried .
Once your child is consistently trying new foods , you can show the video once or twice per week for two weeks or just stop showing it altogether . There are no hard and fast rules about when to stop showing the video , although your child may tire of watching the same video too often . If they tire watching the same video but still need the instruction , create a new video for the same behavior .
Slow down your child ’ s eating
If your child gobbles down his / her meals very quickly , this can pose a choking hazard and can also affect social opportunities . Meals are times to socialize with friends . Gobbling down food limits the length of the meal and the ability to talk in addition to creating an unsightly mess . If this is a challenge for your child , below is how to make a video to help him / her quickly overcome it :
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Tell your child you ’ re going to make a short movie of him / her and he / she will be the star .
Let him / her know the video will help slow down eating , which will help him / her be healthier and open up opportunities to make friends .
50 | Autism Parenting Magazine | Issue 74