Background/Purpose Autism is a lifelong developmental disability that causes delays in verbal and nonverbal communication and social interaction as well as ritualistic, compulsive behaviours (Loovis & Ersing, 1979). Children with autism may demonstrate significant deficiencies in fine and gross motor skills (Smith, 2001). Although there have been studies about the effects of games and sport activities on children with autism (Leaf & McEaching, 1999), there has been no research about the effects of water exercises on motor skils of children with autism. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to determine the effects of water exercises (walking, kangaroo jumps, bicyle ride, sanke movements, ball playing and upper extremity exercises) on motor skills of children with autism.
Method The most to least prompting procedure with one-to-one teaching group arrangement used as an intervention. This procedure provides the most amount of cues at the beginning and then the amount of cues deceases within a certain time interval and order (Duker, 2004). Subjects were four boys, 5-7 years old. Bruininks-Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency (BOTMP) short form was used for determining the level of motor performance. Data were collected over the course of 12-week, three times a week, and 60 minutes per session.
Analysis/Results The results of this study were analyzed via graphic illustrations. The results indicated that fine and gross motor test scores of each child were improved after water exercise intervention.
Conclusions This study showed that both water exercise training and special education interventions could be useful for developing motor performance of children with autism.