The Effect of Selected Exercise Group on Motor Skills and Cognitive Functions in Children With Autism Spectrum Disorders

The present study aimed to determine the effects of a selected group exercise on motor skills and cognitive function in children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs). Forty children with ASD aged 5-12 years participated in this quasi-experimental study. The Bruininks–Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency (BOTMP), and the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST) were performed in 3 assessment stages of baseline, pretest, and posttest in Sports, Play, and Active Recreation for Kids (SPARK). The repeated-measures Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) were used for analyzing the collected data. The current research results demonstrated that the selected exercises presented positive effects on motor skills (P<0.05) in the studied subjects; however, they indicated no significant effects on their cognitive function (P>0.05). According to the present study results, the SPARK’s training is effective on children with ASDs and severe mobility limitations; however, it presented no cognitive function improvement in the study participants.