Effectiveness of physical activity-based instruction towards supporting the social skills of preschool children with autism spectrum disorder

This study aimed to examine the effectiveness of physical activity-based teaching in supporting the social skills of preschool children with Autism Spectrum Disorder. For this purpose, the research was conducted with 3 preschool children diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Physical Activity Based Instruction (PADÖ) was used to support social skills. FADÖ is organized in accordance with the direct teaching method and consists of 18 activities. The teaching was carried out two days a week and two sessions a day and lasted 4.5 weeks. The study is a single group pretest-posttest experimental design model. Social Skills Checklist was used to determine children's social skill levels in pre-test, follow-up, post-test and retention sessions. During the data analysis process, the social skill status of the participants was examined on the table and using the visual analysis technique, whether each participant acquired the relevant skills in the pre-test, post-test and permanence test. In the analysis of instructional sequence monitoring data, a line graph was used to reveal how students' instructional sequence performances changed. According to the research results; It was observed that there was an increase between the skills of all participants in the pre-test and their skills in the post-test. It is seen that the physical activity-based teaching process mostly improves students' skills in finishing the activity, following verbal instructions, working collaboratively, and after these skills, it mostly improves their skills in participating in an ongoing activity, focusing on attention, waiting for their turn, and answering questions. Research results have shown that physical activity-based teaching is effective in the development of social skills of preschool children with autism spectrum disorder.