Outdoor adventures help children with autism spectrum disorder
If you are a parent of a child with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), you will be looking out for various therapies and interventions to help your child with their symptoms.
Outdoor challenge-based interventions could be just what you need, according to a new study from Tel Aviv University which shows that such activities are effective in reducing the severity of ASD symptoms.
Outdoor activity programs are aimed at improving interpersonal relationships using adventurous activities. This study examined the effectiveness of such outdoor adventure programs on children with ASD.
Previous studies have shown that there is a rise in the number of autism cases in Australia – 1.5 per cent of all 10- and 11-year-olds have ASD and 2.5 per cent of four- and five-year-olds show the symptoms.
ASD is a neurodevelopmental disorder which alters brain growth and development, affecting the way an individual with ASD will relate to his or her environment and interact with other people. It is characterised by socio-communicative impairment and restrictive and repetitive behaviours and interests.
The results of this study showed significant improvement in social-communication, social cognition, social motivation and autistic mannerisms in the group that participated in the outdoor adventure programme while the control group showed the opposite.
ASD takes a social, economic and emotional toll not only on the child but also on their family. But research shows that early diagnosis and early treatment and intervention lead to immense improvement in cognitive functioning and social communication skills in children with the spectrum.
This study included 51 students from seven special education kindergartens in Tel Aviv, Israel. The study was conducted in collaboration with ALUT, the national Israeli Association for Children with Autism, and ETGARIM, a non-profit organisation which sponsors outdoor activities for disabled people. Forty boys and 11 girls, aged three to seven years old, followed the same educational protocol, but only the intervention group comprising of 30 students participated in the outdoor adventure program (OAP).
The OAP was designed as challenged-based activities over 13 weekly sessions. Each session took place in urban parks near the child’s kindergarten and started off with a song. The children then participated in sessions using outdoor fitness equipment, moving from one to another. The program required children to communicate with the instructors or peers, for example through asking for assistance or calling out to be noticed.
The children’s cognitive abilities and adaptive skills were assessed before the start of the adventure program and after. These skills were assessed using the Social Responsiveness Scale (SRS), a questionnaire that assesses autism severity in different domains, and the Teachers’ Perceived Future Capabilities questionnaire.
The outdoor adventure program was designed to improve intrapersonal skills along with problem-solving skills and forced the child to communicate in exciting situations and challenging tasks.
The study shows that outdoor adventure activities improves communication skill in children with ASD. The researchers suggest that these kind of fun activities should be included in special education kindergartens and in communication classrooms at school in addition to other treatment methods.
Parents of children with ASD can also enrol their children in special outdoor activity programs after school based on the results and interpretation of this study. This will go a long way in improving communication skills in these kids while they have fun in their leisure time.
Source: Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology
