Atividades motoras orientadas extracurriculares para crianças com Transtorno do Espectro Autista

Abstract

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is often related to difficulties in motor skills development, which can compromise children's participation in daily activities and leisure time. Fundamental motor skills are a base to the development of more complex motor skills and they are enhanced in environments where structured motor activities are present. This study aimed to investigate the extracurricular structured motor activities practiced by children with ASD in the city of Pelotas, Brazil, with the following specific objectives: to analyze the frequency of children with ASD who practice extracurricular guided motor activities; to identify the extracurricular guided motor activities practiced by children with ASD; to investigate the influence of this practice on the motor performance of children with ASD; to analyze possible effects of different types of extracurricular guided motor activities on the motor performance of children with ASD. As hypotheses, it is expected to find more children who practice guided motor activities than those who do not, as well as a higher frequency of children involved in individual than collective motor activities. Furthermore, children who practice motor activities should perform better than those who do not. Finally, children with ASD who practice motor activities with ball skills will perform better than those who practice motor activities with only locomotor motor skills. The findings indicated that most children practice guided motor activities, but there is no preference for individual activities. The practice of activities was not a factor that interfered with motor performance, only the level of support of the children. Finally, no effect of practicing ball activities on motor performance was observed. The study allowed for a broader understanding of the extracurricular guided motor activities practiced by children with ASD in the city of Pelotas/RS, understanding the factors that involve motor performance.