Changes in Motor Skill Proficiency After Equine-Assisted Activities and Brain-Building Tasks in Youth With Neurodevelopmental Disorders.

There is a lack of current research to support the efficacy of a combination of equine-assisted activities (EAA) and brain building activities to influence motor skill competencies in youth with neurodevelopmental disorders (ND). The primary objective of this study was to quantify changes in motor skill proficiency before and after 8 weeks of EAA and brain-building activities in youth with ND. A secondary objective was to quantify changes in motor skill proficiency before and after 1 year of EAA and brain-building activities in youth with ND. Twenty-five youth completed the same 32-week protocol that was separated into 4, 8-week blocks, in the following order: (1) control; (2) EAA-only; (3) washout; (4) GaitWay block (EAA and brain building activities). Before and after each block, motor skills were assessed using the Short Form of the Bruininks-Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency-Version 2 (BOT-2). Seven youth continued with the GaitWay intervention for one additional year, and the BOT-2 Short Form was also administered following this intervention. A repeated-measures analysis-of-variance was performed to compare BOT-2 subtest and overall scores between interventions with a significance of 0.05. Manual dexterity was higher at Post-Washout [3.3 (2.4)] vs. Pre-Control [2.2 (2.1); p = 0.018] and Post-Control [2.6 (2.0); p = 0.024], and at Post-GaitWay vs. Pre-Control [3.2 (2.4) vs. 2.2 (2.1); p = 0.037]. Upper-limb coordination was higher at Post-GaitWay vs. Post-Control [6.0 (4.1) vs. 3.9 (3.8); p = 0.050]. When compared to Pre-Control [3.2 (3.0)], strength was higher at Post-EAA [4.9 (3.5); p = 0.028] and at Post-GaitWay [5.2 (2.9); p = 0.015]. Overall scores were higher at Post-GaitWay [39.1 (22.2)] when compared to Pre-Control [32.4 (21.6); p = 0.003] and Post-Control [32.5 (21.9); p = 0.009]. Additionally, motor skills were maintained for 1 year following the Post-GaitWay testing session among seven participants. This is the first known study to include and demonstrate the short-term and long-term effects of a combination of EAA and brain building activities with motor proficiency in youth with ND. Clinical Trial Registration: Motor Skill Proficiency After Equine-Assisted Activities and Brain-building Tasks; www.ClinicalTrials.gov, identifier: NCT04158960.

Use of technology to facilitate physical activity in children with autism spectrum disorders: A pilot study.

Deficits in social behavior and communication skills are correlated with reduced gross motor skills in children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). The ExerciseBuddy application (EB app) was designed to communicate these motor skills to those with ASD and integrates evidence-based practices such as visual support and video modeling supported by The National Professional Development Center on Autism Spectrum Disorders. The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of the EB app in facilitating increased physiologic responses to physical activity via a continuous measurement of energy expenditure and heart rate versus practice-style teaching methods in children with ASD. Six children, ages 5 to 10years, diagnosed with ASD were recruited. Each participant performed a variety of locomotor or object control skills as defined by the Test of Gross Motor Development-2 once per week for 4weeks. Motor skills were communicated and demonstrated using either practice-style teaching methods or the instructional section of the EB app. Energy expenditure and heart rate were measured continuously during each 12-minute session. A Wilcoxon signed-rank test was performed to assess any differences between the use of the app and practice-style teaching methods. The use of the EB app elicited greater values for peak energy expenditure (p=0.043) and peak heart rate response (p=0.028) while performing locomotor skills but no differences were observed while performing object control skills. Similarities were observed with average physiologic responses between the use of the EB app and practice-style teaching methods. The use of the EB app may allow for a greater peak physiologic response during more dynamic movements and a similar average cardiovascular and metabolic response when compared to practice-style teaching methods in children with ASD.

Evaluating Exercise as Evidence-Based Practice for Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder.

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to conduct a systematic review of the literature to evaluate empirical support for the use of exercise as an evidence-based practice (EBP) for individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), aged 1-21 years, using the Adapted Physical Activity Taxonomy (APAT) (1). METHOD: A systematic review of research, published within the past 10 years and accessible in SPORTDiscus, ProQuest Nursing, Science Direct, ERIC, Ovid MEDLINE, and PsychINFO databases, was conducted following seven inclusion criteria. An initial 169 articles were identified of which 23 articles were found that met the inclusion criteria including implementation of an exercise intervention for participants diagnosed with ASD and utilization of an experimental/quasi experimental, correlational, single-subject, or qualitative research design. These 23 articles were evaluated using the APAT to determine the quality of the research and the strength of the recommendation in establishing exercise as an EBP. RESULTS: Of the 23 articles evaluated, 17 employed an experimental/quasi experimental design, 1 article employed a correlational design, and 5 articles employed a single-subject design. Only one article (2) was found to meet the minimum overall quality indicator of moderate (i.e., Level 2) when evaluated on the APAT. In total, 13 of the 23 articles (57%) had method sections evaluated as weak, and 17 of the 23 articles (74%) had results sections evaluated as weak. CONCLUSION: From the findings of this systematic review, and in accordance with the Every Student Succeeds Act of 2015 (3) definition of an EBP, it appears that exercise can be considered an EBP for school-aged children with ASD. However, this recommendation is based solely on moderate evidence from one well-designed and well-implemented experimental study; therefore, generalization is still pending further similar findings. Recommendations for future research are offered.