Fahimeh Adibsaber; abbasali hossein khanzadeh; Soleyman Ansari Kolachahi; Masoumeh Shojaei; Afkham Daneshfar
Abstract
Autism spectrum disorder is a neurodevelopmental disorder that manifests in early childhood. Previous studies have shown that physical activity can be used to improve the behavioral and physical problems of children with autism spectrum disorder, but few studies have been done on the effect of martial ...
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Autism spectrum disorder is a neurodevelopmental disorder that manifests in early childhood. Previous studies have shown that physical activity can be used to improve the behavioral and physical problems of children with autism spectrum disorder, but few studies have been done on the effect of martial arts training on improving balance in autism spectrum disorders. Therefore, the present study aimed to investigate the effect of karate techniques exercises on balance and stereotypic behaviors in children with autism spectrum disorder. The research method was quasi-experimental with pre-test and post-test with control group. For this purpose, 20 autistic children with mean age of 10.90 ± 2.91 years were selected and randomly assigned to experimental and control groups. The experimental group practiced kata techniques training for 10 weeks, 2 sessions of 60 minutes per week. Before and after the 10-week intervention, stereotypical behaviors questionnaire and static and dynamic balance test were completed and administered. Shapiro–Wilks test was used to determine the normality of the data, and covariance analysis was used to compare the mean of the two groups before and after the intervention. The results showed that ten weeks of karate technique training had a significant effect on stereotyped behaviors (p <0.001), but it did not significantly improve static and dynamic balance indices in these children. Due to the similarity of stereotypes in autism and no need cognition, kata techniques exercise can be a valuable intervention added to autism spectrum children's programs to reduce stereotyped behaviors.
seyed kazem mousavi sadati; Marjan Jirsaraei Bazargard
Abstract
Down syndrome is one of the most common genetic diseases with mild to moderate intellectual disabilities. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of superbrain yoga exercise on fluid intelligence, visual spatial perception, academic achievement and balance in children with down syndrome. ...
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Down syndrome is one of the most common genetic diseases with mild to moderate intellectual disabilities. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of superbrain yoga exercise on fluid intelligence, visual spatial perception, academic achievement and balance in children with down syndrome. This quasi-experimental study was conducted as a pretest-posttest with control group. The statistical population of the study included all students with Down syndrome in Tehran. Participants were 20 educable Down syndrome boys in elementary exceptional school of Shahid Beheshti with mean age (8/2±0/89) which selected by convenience sampling and randomly assigned into two experimental (n=10) and control (n=10) groups. The experimental group performed 12 weeks of experimental Yoga exercises. The data collection tools were Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children - Fifth Ed and Static Equilibrium Stack Test. Shapirowilk, Levene and independent t tests of gained scores were used for data analysis. Superbrain yoga exercises did not have a significant effect on fluid intelligence (t =1. 06, P=0/30), Visual Spatial Perception (t =1/29, P=0/21) and static equilibrium (t = /45, P=0/65), but there was a significant effect on academic achievement of children (t = 2. 46, P=0/02). The results of this study showed that it would be advisable to use Superbrain Yoga exercises in educational achievement for Children with Intellectual Disabilities, along with other commonly used educational programs.