Effects of psychomotor intervention program on students with autism spectrum disorder

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of a psychomotor intervention program (PIP) on body awareness and psychomotor concepts for students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Twenty-eight students (23 boys and 5 girls) with ASD participated in this study. Fourteen students with ASD were randomly assigned to the experimental group (12 boys and 2 girls; mean age of 5.48 years), and 14 students were assigned to the control group (11 boys and 3 girls; mean age of 5.2 years). Students in the experimental group were trained with the PIP activities (targeting body awareness, body concepts, space concepts, and time concepts) three times a week for 10 weeks. Students in the control group followed their regular rehabilitation center educational program for the same period without PIP intervention. The results indicated that students in the experimental group scored significantly better on body awareness, body concepts, space concept, and overall psychomotor concepts than the students in the control group. No significant difference was found on time concepts between the two groups. The findings of this study significantly contribute to the literature by providing researchers and practitioners with parameters on exercise training guidelines to improve body awareness and concepts in students with ASD. It is concluded that PIP is valuable to the improvement of students' general motor proficiency and to the development of concepts essential for school readiness. (PsycINFO Database Record