ABSTRACT
The study aims to analyze the effectiveness of a swimming program on interpersonal skills, autistic mannerisms, and aquatic abilities in children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Research on aquatic therapy showed improvements in motor skills, whereas there is little evidence of effectiveness of this approach on social impairments of ASD. Participants included 25 children, 13 in the experimental group and 12 in the control group, matched for gender, age and autism score. The results showed an advantage in the relational skills for the experimental group at the post-test. The tendency to ameliorate other symptomatology, e.g., autonomy and negative behaviors, persisted at follow-up. Likewise, positive changes in aquatic skills were maintained 6 months after the end of the program.
Subject(s)
Autism Spectrum Disorder/therapy , Communication , Motor Skills , Social Skills , Swimming , Child , Child, Preschool , Female , Humans , Male , WaterABSTRACT
Possession of `social' skills is crucial for persons with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) to maintain a certain independence and a better quality of life, and interaction with virtual environments seems an effective learning aid. In a previous study, we reported that in adults with ASD interaction with a virtual environment (a virtual city) is beneficial to the acquisition of pedestrian skills (street crossing and street navigation). Interaction was based on a gesture-based interface (Microsoft Kinect). Here we compare the learning performance when the same virtual environment is operated by a gamepad interface. We used exactly the same training protocol and data analysis than the original study. We found that both interface types are effective in the acquisition of street crossing and city navigation skills. The gamepad interface seems easier to use (thus leading to faster interaction), but gesture-based interfaces are superior in terms of transfer of the learned skills to real road environments (as reported by parents and caregivers).
