Taekwondo for Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder

Taekwondo for Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder: The Impact on Social Interaction Skills in Everyday Life

This study uses a mixed methods design to understand the effectiveness of using taekwondo as an intervention for children with ASD and its effect on social interaction skills and everyday life. Qualitative research emphasizes that meaning can be explained and interpreted only by those who experience it. A pretest-posttest design will be used to describe what occurs after the introduction of the taekwondo intervention and understand the changes that occur after exposure. Collecting information through the lived experiences and observations from the parents will be collated with the pre and post results of the children participants' social interaction skills. Qualitative data will be collected through pre and post semi-structured interviews with the parents to understand their observations of their child before and after completing the taekwondo program. Interviews will also be conducted with the child to understand their perspectives on physical activity participation. Interview questions will also explore how the effectiveness of the program has impacted the children's engagement in daily activities. Quantitative research will be collected through pre and post results from the Autism Social Skills Profile-2 ([ASSP] assessment that will be completed by the parents. The ASSP-2 provides a comprehensive measure of social functioning for children and adolescents with ASD.

taekwondo, Autism Spectrum Disorder, occupational therapy, Social interaction skills, child participants

Autism Social Skills Profile-2 (ASSP-2) will be administered at baseline prior to taekwondo instruction and then administered again at week 7. The ASSP-2 has 49 items and each are rated on a 4-point Likert scale with a minimum score of 1 representing never and a maximum score 4 representing very often for each item. This is a composite measurement. The scale ranges from a total raw score of 49 to a maximum of 196. There are three subscales: 20 social/emotional reciprocity (SER) items, 11 structured play activity (SPA) items, and 11 detrimental social behaviors (DSB) items. One component skill is measured as both an SER and SPA subscale. Standard scores have a mean of 100 and a standard deviation of 15. The higher the scores for each section means that the child does not have difficulties with social skills for that subscale. The lower the scores shows a deficit in each area.

Inclusion Criteria: Formal diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) Able to follow and understand English verbal instructions during the screening process. No experience or prior experience with martial arts. Able to walk and move without using adaptive equipment Exclusion Criteria: Physical disabilities that would prevent participation in taekwondo (e.g. wheelchair bound)