Effect of karate techniques training on communication of children with autism spectrum disorder

International Conference on Sports Medicine and Fitness

March 23-25, 2015 Chicago, USA

Fatimah Bahrami

Posters-Accepted Abstracts: J Sports Med Doping Stud

Abstract :

This investigation examined the long term effects of Karate techniques, training on communication deficit of children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). We assigned 30 school aged children with ASD to an exercise (n=15) or a control group (n=15). All participants in the exercise group were engaged in 14 weeks of Karate techniques, training as well as routine educational skills, while the participants of the control group continued to receive merely educational skills. The communication deficits of the participants at baseline, post-intervention (week 14), and at one month follow up were evaluated. When compared to the pre-and post-assessment of the participants in the control group, participants in the exercise group showed significant improvement in communication deficit. Moreover, improvement in communication deficit in the exercise group at one month follow upremained unchanged compared to post-intervention time. However, the communication deficit of the participants in the control group did not show a significant change across the experimental period. We concluded that training Karate techniques to children with ASD leads to significant improvement in their communication deficit.