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Watch Me Try: ACT for Improving Athletic Performance of Young Adults with ASD

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Abstract

Objectives

Few studies have examined the effects of contextual behavior science interventions for adult athletes with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Those few, reviewed herein, show preliminary empirical support for treating behavioral deficits exhibited by young adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder engaged in competitive sports. In the current study, we evaluated a novel iteration of Acceptance and Commitment Training called Watch Me Try and compared it with direct contingency management to facilitate athletic performance of young adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder.

Methods

A concurrent multiple baseline across participants design was used to measure changes in tardy arrivals to practice, heart rate, and fall lengths during practice climbs. Direct contingency management strategies included task analysis, modeling, prompting, stimulus control shaping, differential reinforcement, self-monitoring, goal setting, and performance feedback. The Watch Me Try intervention included three modules designed to incorporate all six repertoires that comprise the psychological flexibility model upon which ACT is based.

Results

All three athletes increased their attendance, heart rate, and length of falls during training to simulate desired performance during competitions and subsequently, their competition performances improved. One improved with direct contingency management alone; the other two required the Watch Me Try approach to bolster their performance.

Conclusions

Results bolster the literature that supports Acceptance and Commitment Training as a treatment modality that supplements behavioral programs with the aim of improving socially significant behavior that can be observed and measured in applied contexts.

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Acknowledgments

The authors wish to thank the owners and manager of The Refuge Climbing and Fitness Indoor Rock Climbing Bouldering Gym.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Behavior Analysis, Florida Institute of Technology, 150 W. University Blvd, Melbourne, FL, 32901, USA

    Thomas G. Szabo

  2. Las Vegas, USA

    Paula B. Willis & Christopher J. Palinski

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  1. Thomas G. Szabo
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  2. Paula B. Willis
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  3. Christopher J. Palinski
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Contributions

TGS designed and executed the study, analyzed the data, and wrote the paper. PBW assisted in executing the study, collecting data, and writing the paper. CJP assisted in executing the study and collecting data.

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Correspondence to Thomas G. Szabo.

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All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of Florida Institute of Technology and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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

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Szabo, T.G., Willis, P.B. & Palinski, C.J. Watch Me Try: ACT for Improving Athletic Performance of Young Adults with ASD. Adv Neurodev Disord 3, 434–449 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s41252-019-00129-7

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