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Effects of an Inclusive Physical Activity Program on the Motor Skills, Social Skills and Attitudes of Students with and without Autism Spectrum Disorder

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Abstract

This study investigated the effects of an inclusive physical activity (IPA) program on the motor and social skills and attitudes of students with and without autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The study sample consisted of 45 ASD and typical development (TD) students aged between 6 and 11 years. The students were randomly divided into two groups: a training group consisting of 27 students (n = 13 with ASD and n = 14 with TD) and a control group consisting of 18 students (n = 9 with ASD and n = 9 with TD). In conclusion, the IPA program increased the motor and social skills of the ASD students and improved the motor skills of the TD students and positively affected their attitudes towards the ASD students.

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Acknowledgments

This research was completed as part of the requirements for the Doctorate of İstanbul Gedik University. We would like to thank all of our students and parents who participated in the research, as well as the voluntary physical education teachers and all the heads and special education teachers of Fatih Primary School, Kazim Karabekir School and Petrol Primary School who assisted in the collection. We are also grateful for the support of the Municipality of Batman, Turkey.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Vocational School of Health Services, Batman University, Batman, Turkey

    Ahmet Sansi

  2. Faculty of Sport Sciences, Alanya Alaaddin Keykubat University, Antalya, Turkey

    Sibel Nalbant

  3. Faculty of Health Sciences, İstanbul Kent University, İstanbul, Turkey

    Dilara Ozer

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  1. Ahmet Sansi
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  2. Sibel Nalbant
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  3. Dilara Ozer
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Contributions

DÖ contributed to the design of the research. AS implemented and completed all data collection and analysis of this research. AS drafted the manuscript and SN augmented, revised, and strengthened the final copy. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Ahmet Sansi.

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All the procedures performed in this research were accordance with the ethical standards of Istanbul Gedik University in the Republic of Turkey.

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Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the research.

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Appendix

Appendix

See Tables 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 ,13, 14 and 15

Table 4 Description of parents of students with ASD in TRG
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Table 5 Description of special education teachers
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Table 6 Description of volunteer physical education teachers
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Table 7 Results for the ASD and TD students’ pre-test assessment of fundamental movement skills in TRG and CG before IPA program
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Table 8 Results for the ASD and TD students’ post-test assessment of fundamental movement skills in TRG and CG after IPA program
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Table 9 Results for the ASD and TD students’ pre-test and post-test assessments of fundamental movement skills in TRG and CG before and after IPA program
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Table 10 Results for the TD peers’ pre-test assessment of FAS and ACL in TRG and CG before IPA program
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Table 11 Results for the TD peers’ post-test assessment of FAS and ACL in TRG and CG after IPA program
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Table 12 Results for the TD peers’ pre-test and post-test assessments of FAS and ACL in TRG and CG before and after IPA program
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Table 13 Results for the ASD students’ pre-test assessment of SSRS-PF in TRG and CG Before IPA program
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Table 14 Results for the ASD students’ post-test assessment of SSRS-PF in TRG and CG after IPA program
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Table 15 Results for the ASD students’ pre-test and post-test assessments of SSRS-PF in TRG and CG before and after IPA program
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Sansi, A., Nalbant, S. & Ozer, D. Effects of an Inclusive Physical Activity Program on the Motor Skills, Social Skills and Attitudes of Students with and without Autism Spectrum Disorder. J Autism Dev Disord 51, 2254–2270 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-020-04693-z

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