Reliability study of the imitation evaluation tool in typically developing and children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

In this study, the reliability level of the Imitation Evaluation Tool, which was developed to evaluate imitation, which is accepted as one of the areas of delayed development in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), was examined in the measurement of imitation development in children with autism spectrum disorder and typical development (TD) in early childhood. In this study, in which children with ASD and TD participant children constituted the study group, descriptive screening model was used in order to find answers to the research questions about the reliability of the imitation assessment tool by using inferential statistics. Fifty TD children between the ages of 12-30 months and 54 children with ASD between the ages of 24-84 months participated in the study. The findings of the study show that it has a high level of reliability in measuring spontaneous imitation in children with ASD, a moderate level of reliability in measuring imitation behaviours, and a high level of reliability in measuring cue-based imitation.