The Effect of Adapted Basketball Exercises on the Development of Non-Oral Communication Skills of Autistic Children

The aim of this study was to determine the effect of adapted basketball exercises on the development of nonverbal communication skills of autistic children. Among the single-subject research models, multiple-polling inter-polling behavior was used. The population of the study consists of children with mild autism spectrum disorder in the special education center in which autistic children are educated in Isparta. The sample of the study was determined by using simple random sampling method for two (2) mildly autistic children of ten (10) years. Written consent was obtained from the parents for the selected children to participate in the study. The aim of the study is to teach selected children the skills of non-verbal communication, to the other person, to shake hands and to shake hands with the other person. The study lasted a total of seventeen (17) weeks, one week of observation and sixteen weeks of application. The same program was applied to both children during the study. The content of the program consists of teaching basic technical skills specific to basketball. These skills include ball holding, right and left hand bouncing, right and left hand dribbling, chest pass, bounce pass, overhead pass and smash techniques. The skills were adapted to the readiness levels of both children. In order to record the data, video camera, entry level data recording form and teaching process data recording forms were used. The data obtained at the end of the application were analyzed by showing on the graph. Since the number of participants was two (2), the data obtained during the seventeen (17) week period were converted to point points in accordance with the scale protocol and converted to line graphs to reveal the change. When the findings of the study were evaluated, it was seen that there were positive changes in the development of non-verbal communication skills of autistic children who extended their hands, squeezed their hands and shook hands with the other person.