Effects of exercise on problem behaviors and academic engagement in individuals with autism spectrum disorder

The aim of the study was to examine the effect of antecedent based exercise on classroom behaviors of children aged 3-5 years diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Two 3-year-old boys and a 4-year-old girl with ASD participated in the study. Experimental control of the research was provided with the A-B-A-B model, one of the single-subject research models. The dependent variable of the study was determined as the problem behaviors and academic participations exhibited by the children during the lesson. The independent variable consisted of walking exercise with 2 minutes warm-up, 10 minutes main phase and 2 minutes cool-down periods before the lesson. In the study, social validity was determined through subjective assessment. As a result of the research, it was determined that the problem behaviors of the participants during the lesson decreased after the antecedent based exercise. In addition, there was an increase in the level of academic participation in the phases in which the participants took part in the antecedent exercise. Subjective assessment results showed that both teachers and primary caregivers had positive views on the research. There is a need for new studies to support these positive effects of aerobic exercises such as walking before classroom on academic participation and problem behaviors of preschool children with ASD.