Adapting measures of motor imitation for use by caregivers in virtual contexts: Reliability, validity, and sensitivity to change

Imitation is an important skill for young children because it is an aspect of social communication development. Early intervention can increase imitation skills in young children with social communication delays, including autism. Therefore, it is important to have tools that can measure imitation skills and track imitation progress during interventions, and that can reach a broad population. Currently, there are no available tools to do so. This study explores whether two virtual, caregiver‐implemented imitation assessments measure what they are supposed to measure and do so consistently. Study participants (177 caregivers and their child) were enrolled in a large, multisite study that is examining the effectiveness of a caregiver‐implemented intervention delivered through the Part C early intervention (EI) system in four states. Results show that the virtual assessments can be administered correctly, consistently measure what they are supposed to measure, and can detect changes in imitation skills over time. These findings suggest that imitation skills can be measured effectively using virtual caregiver‐implemented assessments, which could help improve research and clinical interventions targeting imitation skills in young children.