Halliwick concept of swimming and its influence on motoric competencies of children with severe disabilities

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to describe the influence of Halliwick concept of swimming on development of motor competencies of children with cerebral palsy and autism. Participants of this study were ten children with severe disabilities - cerebral palsy (CP) and autism (mean age 5.5 years). Aquatic skills were evaluated using Water orientation test (WOTA) created by Tirosh, Katz-Leurer and Getz (2008). Gross motor skills were evaluated using Gross motor function measure (GMFM) by Russell, Rosenbaum, Avery, & Lane (2002). Testing was done at the beginning and at the end of ten week Halliwick swimming intervention. Verbal evaluation was recorded after every swimming lesson. Results of WOTA testing showed improvement of aquatic skills in children with diparetic cerebral palsy by 0.64 points, in children with quadruparetic cerebral palsy by 0.76 points and in children with autism by 1.18 points. Gross motor skills improved by 4.25% in children with diparetic CP, 1.57% in children with autism and 5.20% in children with quadruparetic CP.