An examination of the effects of adapted game practices on social skills, language development, motor development and physical fitness levels in children with autism spectrum disorder according to teachers' perspectives

This research was carried out in order to examine the Social Skills, Language Development, Motor Development and Physical Fitness Levels of Adapted Game Practices applied for 10 weeks in individuals diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder between the ages of 10-11, according to the perspectives of teachers. 6 male individuals diagnosed with Autism and 4 teachers working at the school participated in the study. Three of individuals with autism are students diagnosed with Mild Autism, and the other three are students diagnosed with Moderate Autism. Pretest-posttest experimental design without control group was used in the study. In order to obtain the data, necessary permission documents were obtained from the Ministry of National Education, a Primary School in Muş-Merkez. Social Skills Evaluation Scale (7-12 years old) was selected to examine the Social Skills, Language Development and Teacher Perspectives of the Subjects, and for the measurement of the levels of Physical Fitness and Motor Development parameters, Left Hand-Right Hand Claw Strength, Back Leg Strength, Biceps, Triceps, Subscapula, Iliac Crest, Abdominal, Calf, Right-Left Hand Reaction Time and Skin Fold pre-test post-test measurements were made. In terms of the demographic characteristics, weight and height were measured. According to the autism variable, the values of the Adapted Game Practices after the pre-test and post-test were compared. IBM SPSS 22.0 package program was used to evaluate the obtained data. T-Test (Man Withney U Test) was used in pairwise comparisons, assuming that the data were not normally distributed, considering the number of subjects, and Wicoxon Signed Ranks Test was used for dependent measurements. In the data obtained, a significant difference was detected in the Back Leg Strength, Right Hand – Left Hand Reaction Speed Levels variables of the individuals with Autism who participated in the research, while a positive development was observed in Biceps, Abdominal, Calf parameters. In conclusion, it can be said that 10 weeks of Adapted Game Practices have an effect on physical fitness, motor development and social skills in children with Autism Spectrum Disorder.