Background: Few studies have examined the fitness levels of children with autism and those that did found that they had a reduced fitness level in comparison to neuro-typical children (Blair, Cheng and Holder, 2001; Curtin et... [ view full abstract ]
Background: Few studies have examined the fitness levels of children with autism and those that did found that they had a reduced fitness level in comparison to neuro-typical children (Blair, Cheng and Holder, 2001; Curtin et al., 2010; MacDonald, Esposito and Ulrich, 2011). To date no study has assessed the effects of an eight week exercise programme on fitness levels or behaviour of children with autism in Irish Primary schools. Exercise in children with autism has been shown to improve social skills, self-regulation, behavioural skills and academic performance while decreasing disruptive and stereotypical behaviour (Stanish et al., 2015). Due to the nature of autism it can be difficult to engage the children in exercise participation. The use of an iPad with storyboards will be a novel way to introduce exercise to the children as it will be a very visual method. The aim of the study was to use an iPad with story creator to introduce an exercise programme to children with autism.
With the introduction of new games, and exercises, one way of helping children to understand how to exercise is through the use of videos and the use of a storyboard. Children with ASD have many deficits including communication and motor skills. They may shy away from engaging in play time at school, physical education class, and eventually becoming sedentary, leading to a negatively impacted lifestyle in terms of health related issues (Must et al., 2014; Mache and Todd, 2016). Creating a story for the children to follow using the iPad with words, pictures and videos helped the children to understanding how to complete exercises and tasks.
Methods: Prior to commencement of the project, the Story Creator app (Innovative Mobile Apps Ltd) was uploaded onto the iPad. A storyboard was created in this app that included videos of the exercises that the children would be asked to participate in. Previously a primary school aged child was videoed completing the same exercises. Within the storyboard for each exercise the video was embed, along with audible and visual text, describing what the child had to do to complete the exercise. On commencement of the project the storyboard was used at the beginning of the exercise class to visually show the children the exercises which they need to perform on that day. An eight week exercise programme was undertaken with the children and consisted of upper and lower limb push pull exercises through the use of games. It consisted of a one hour session, three times a week, on alternative days.
Results: The iPad with a storyboard was an effective method at engaging children with autism to complete an exercise programme. The iPad broke down the barrier of teaching, leading to the understanding and comprehension of he exercises by the children. This programme has been completed to date by 17 children within autism units in Co. Carlow and is still ongoing.
Conclusion: The use of the iPad with a storyboard to date has been an effective method by which to explain to children how to perform exercises. This study will be ongoing till November 2018.
