Shortly after college, I took the bus cross-country from California to New York. I had a friend who was working on a Master’s degree in a Midwestern state. No one used cell phones back then. I called him from a payphone at a highway rest stop along the road:
“I’ll be passing through your town in two days. Have time to get together?”
“I’m the head of a new skydiving club, and that is the day of our first jump. You are welcome to join us, though.”
“Thanks. I’ll come along and hang out, but I’ll just watch.”
I watched, and I saw one person after the next come down safely and talk about what an amazing experience it was. Odds are I’ll never have another opportunity, so I decided to give it a try, even though I have a severe fear of heights. “I’m here already.”
It turned out that when you skydive, the procedure was to climb out of the plane and hang on to the wing. Then, the instructor told you when it was safe to let go. Not sure how I managed to get through it, but I did it. I enjoyed the experience somewhat, but not so much that I did it again. I still have a major fear of heights.
It turns out this is a common phenomenon. Just watching people have fun at an activity makes you want to try it, too. Many children with autism are not eager to try new things–leisure activities, games, toys, foods, and more. But several studies have found that showing them videos or live models of people enjoying the activity is often enough to encourage children to try it. Once they try it, they might enjoy it and want to do it more. They might not, but the first step is encouraging them to sample the activity. It works much better than the typical nagging strategy.