The effect of physiotherapy based sensory integration activities on fine motor skills in children with autism spectrum disorder

The aim of the study is to determine the effectiveness of physiotherapy-based sensory integration activities on fine motor skills in children with autism spectrum disorder. A child psychiatrist who applied to SOBE Foundation Special Education and Rehabilitation Center and was diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) according to DSM V criteria by RAM (Guidance Research Center) and received Applied Behavior Analysis (UDA) training and applied for Occupational Therapy training, but has not yet entered the intervention process, uninitiated children are included. In order to examine the effect of sensory integration activities on fine motor skills, the Nine-Hole Peg Test was applied before the activity program. Participants were divided into A and B groups as those who received physiotherapy-based sensory integration activities (A) and those who did not receive physiotherapy-based sensory integration activities (B). According to the study design, physiotherapy-based sensory integration activities in addition to Applied Behavior Analysis (UDA) training for group A; It was applied 1 session per week for 8 weeks, each session being 45 minutes. During this period, any physiotherapy, occupational therapy and movement training interventions were not applied to the B group besides Applied Behavior Analysis (UDA) training. At the end of 8 weeks, the Nine-Hole Peg Test was applied to both groups for the second time. The data obtained from the Nine Hole Peg test results were analyzed in the SPSS 25.0 program, and the Mann-Whitney U, Wilcoxon Test was performed in accordance with the aims and requirements of the research. According to the results of the statistical analyzes, as a result of the intervention applied, there were statistically significant improvements in the Nine-Hole Peg Test scores of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) who received Applied Behavior Analysis (UDA) and physiotherapy-based sensory integration activities. The improvement seen in the intervention group was higher than the improvement seen in the control group.The findings show that physiotherapy-based sensory integration activities applied to children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have a positive effect on fine motor skills.