Effects of a Program of Sport Schools on Development of Social and Psychomotor Skills of People with Autistic Spectrum Disorders: A Pilot Project

Abstract

Individuals with Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD) present learning difficulties and limited performance of social skills, besides lower motor skills performance in comparison with their peers. Owing to these difficulties, most of children with ASD are at risk of social exclusion or a poor inclusion due to their behavior, mainly playing with other partners, understanding play and leisure as a main performance area for children and their main occupation during childhood (defining occupation from occupational therapy point of view). Therefore, learning rules of a well-known game such as football, together with social skills training can help avoid exclusion and improve social life of people with ASD. Two of the main objectives pursued by this study are: first, to favor football practice among children with different abilities, as well as their future inclusion in the rest of social sports schools performing the activities at the same level as their peers; and, secondly, to facilitate comprehensive development for young people in order to improve their quality of life, moreover, the creation of healthy and sporting habits.

It is now presented a pilot project (n=5) in which the actions carried out during the training program are analyzed along with the results achieved after 24 one-hour-session. In general terms, the results obtained are positive with the best scores in psychomotor and social skills at the end of the programs, being conscious of this study’s limitations.