Analysis of the impact of a sport program on children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Abstract

The objective of this research is to develop a social-sport program to improve motor skills and social skills of children with autism spectrum disorder, in addition to studying the repercussions that sports practice has on children with autism disorder. Physical and sports activity can be a fundamental pillar for achieving full development in personal and social fields. To this end, a social-sport program with a duration of eight months is developed, involving 15 children with autism spectrum disorder divided into three homogeneous groups and selected through semi-structured interviews conducted with their family nucleus. Inclusion criteria were being between the ages of six and 12 years old; having degree one or two of necessary support (according to the DSM-5). The impact of the program is evaluated through a rubric system completed by two observers throughout all the sessions. The results are obtained by means of comparison of mean scores between both observers, establishing the mean scores on a monthly basis and performing the Wilcoxon significance test for related samples. The results show significant differences between the two measurement times (the first, at the beginning of the program, in order to establish a baseline against which to compare the second time, at the end of the program). A tendency of improvement can also be observed over time, with a slight stagnation between the months of January and February, and a slight reduction in performance at the end of the program.