The effects of physical activity programme on the development of children with special needs, early literacy skills, working memory and social support perceived by parents

In this study, it was aimed to determine the effect of physical activity on early literacy skills, working memory performance and general development levels of individuals with special needs and the effect of physical activity on the level of social support perceived by the participant parents of individuals with special needs participating in physical activity. A single group pretest-posttest design was used in the study. Early Literacy Test (EROT), Ankara Developmental Screening Inventory (AGTE), Working Memory Scale (WMS) were administered to participant children; Multidimensional Perceived Social Support Scale (MSPSS) was administered to participant parents. There were nine child participants and nine parent participants in the study. The special needs status of the child participants were Pervasive Developmental Disorder, Down Syndrome, Developmental Language Disorder. After the tests, the findings were statistically analysed. The results of the analyses showed that physical activity with parental participation contributed positively to the general development and language-cognitive development areas of the participant children; early literacy skills, phonological awareness levels, vocabulary knowledge level in receptive and expressive language; working memory, verbal memory, verbal short-term memory, visual memory, visual working memory performances. No change was found in the perceived social support levels of the participant parents. The obtained data were discussed in the light of the literature. It may be beneficial to consider including studies on the benefits of physical activity for children with special needs from an early age