Autism is a complex developmental disability that typically appears during the first three years of life and is usually diagnosed between the ages of two and three years (2-4). The term autism refers to not one disorder but a group of disorders known as Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). ASD is described as impairment in one or more of the following three categories: reciprocal social interaction, communication, and specific pattern of behaviors, interest, and activities. For any of these impairments, the child has the potential to display distressed behaviors (5). Distressed behaviors can include verbal outburst, self stimulatory behaviors, aggression, etc. and various other behaviors of concerns. Distressed behaviors, such as hand flapping, appear to form a functional response to stimuli this response often negatively impacts others. These behaviors are more likely among persons who are receiving aversive stimulation, such as having to engage in non preferred academic task. (5). Of concern in this paper is can the use of physical activity decrease distressed behavior.
The literature demonstrates that increasing physical activity can has also demonstrated decreased distressed behaviors; unfortunately physical education programs have been decreasing in many public schools (11). Along with academic and behavioral benefits, there is a well established link between physical activity and positive health outcomes. A large part of this risk is associated with physical inactivity. The majority of literature regarding physical activity involves children who are typically developing. This study will apply these findings to a student with Autism.
This research will introduce three ten minute bouts of noncontingent physical activity per day will decrease distressed behavior and increase time-ontask. A single subject design was utilized to observe a student with autism in a classroom setting. It was hypothesized that a correlation exists between physical activity, distressed behavior, and time-ontask.
During this study a wealth of data were collected regarding the impact of physical activity on distressed behaviors and time-on-task. The Fischer exact probability test was significance (p =.025); from base line through intervention the subject decreased the number of disruptive behaviors. This study demonstrated that physical activity should be implemented amongst students with Autism to decrease distressed behaviors for a single subject.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:PITT/oai:PITTETD:etd-04282009-155701 |
| Date | 02 June 2009 |
| Creators | Rawlins, Knolan C |
| Contributors | Paula Wolf, M.S., William J. Helsel, Ed.D., Jere Gallagher, PhD, Mary Duquin, PhD |
| Publisher | University of Pittsburgh |
| Source Sets | University of Pittsburgh |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | http://etd.library.pitt.edu/ETD/available/etd-04282009-155701/ |
| Rights | unrestricted, I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached hereto a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dissertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to University of Pittsburgh or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report. |
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