Motor Performance in School-Aged Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder: Effects of an Extracurricular Physical Education program and socio-ecological correlates

Abstract

A high rate of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) have impaired psychomotor development. To date, these children have had few opportunities to participate in extracurricular Physical Education programs. However, nowadays a number of intervention programs are arising with the aim of improving their motor performance. The objectives of this study were (1) to analyze the effects on motor performance of an extracurricular Physical Education program implemented in children with ASD, and (2) to examine whether certain sociodemographic variables and learning-related difficulties are associated with motor performance. a quasi-experimental design was used with 31 participants (experimental group: n = 17; 13 boys, 4 girls) (control group: n = 14; 12 boys, 2 girls) with ASD between 4 and 16 years old. On the one hand, the level of motor performance was evaluated with the Movement Evaluation Battery for Children-2nd edition (MABC-2). On the other hand, the parents provided sociodemographic information about the participants through a questionnaire. after carrying out the intervention program, the experimental group obtained statistically significant better results in the variables of manual dexterity and balance. Furthermore, the correlation analysis of sociodemographic variables and learning-related difficulties suggests that age, type of diagnosis, need for educational support, and traits such as impulsivity and hyperactivity are factors related to the motor domain of the population with ASD. The findings highlight significant improvements, showing the need to address these difficulties to stimulate and encourage the development of children with ASD from an early age. © 2021, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.