Investigation of the effects of sand therapy in the open areas on the development of social skills in children with autism

Children with Autism spectrum disorder need playgrounds arranged in open areas for them to express themselves as social beings. The research is to examine the effect of Sand Therapy on the social skill development of children with ASD within the scope of nature therapy. Also, in this research, it is suggested to consider some standards for the planning and design of sandboxes in special education rehabilitation gardens. The study group of this research has a quasi-experimental design in which pre-test and post-test measurements are made on the experimental groups; In the spring semester of the 2020-2021 academic year, children between the ages of 8 and 12 with autism diagnosed at Sevgi Yolu Special Education and Rehabilitation Center (SYÖER Center) were formed. The research consisted of five stages; the planning of the study, the implementation phase, the post-tests, the analysis of the data, and the explanation of the design proposals. As a result of the studies conducted on children with ASD, increasing their interaction with society contributed to the development of children with autism socially and psychologically. In this context, group sand therapy was applied to the experimental groups for 5 weeks, 2 sessions a week, and a total of 10 sessions of 3 children with autism were selected using the selective assignment method. All data during the research; was obtained by using the Autism Social Skill Profile Scale (OSBP), which was answered by parents and teachers of children. In the findings obtained from the study, a statistically significant difference was measured between the social skill scores of the experimental group with ASD from the OSBP after the application. According to the results of the research, proposals for the design of barrier-free sandboxes were developed and the connection between the playgrounds and the design was re-evaluated.