Background/Purpose Individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) typically exhibit stereotypic behaviors (SB). While various gross motor activities (e.g., jogging) have been used to decrease SB (Petrus et al., 2008) evidence is lacking regarding their effect when performed in different settings. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of motor activities performed in two settings (gymnasium/pool) on SB in children with ASD. The theoretical underpinning for this study was framed within a behavioral perspective.
Method Participants were two boys with ASD (8 years) who exhibited SB. An alternating treatment design was used to compare SB exhibited during activities in both gymnasium and pool settings. A momentary time sampling procedure was used. Following baseline (no structured motor activities) participants were alternately placed in either a gymnasium or pool setting in which structured motor activities were performed. All sessions were videotaped.
Analysis/Results The percentage of time exhibiting SB was calculated. Interobserver agreement and treatment fidelity were established (93.5% and 95%, respectively) on 20% of randomly selected sessions. There were marked SB decreases for both participants across both settings. On average, when compared to baseline participant A exhibited SB decreases of 24.4% (baseline 34.3%; treatment 9.9%) and 11.7% (baseline 17.9%; treatment 6.2%) for gymnasium and pool settings, respectively. On average, when compared to baseline participant B exhibited SB decreases of 35.6% (baseline 49.1%; treatment 13.5%) and 26.4% (baseline 37.5%; 11.1% treatment) for the gymnasium and pool settings, respectively.
Conclusions Findings can be of help to practitioners when programming activities for children with ASD.