The Effect of the Selective Video-Interactive Exercises on Gross Motor Skills, Eye-Hand Coordination, and Severity of Disorder Symptoms in Children (Age Range: 6-9 Years) with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Purpose: Autism spectrum disorder is usually accompanied with impaired motor skills, motor coordination, especially visual-motor coordination, and behavioral disorders. This study is aimed to investigate the effect of the selective video-interactive exercises on gross motor skills, eye-hand coordination, and severity of disorder symptoms in children at the age range of 6-9 years with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Methods: 30 children at the age range of 6-9 years with autism disorder were selected form the care centers of Mashhad. They were divided into two groups of experimental and control groups bases on random selection. In addition to the Autism Center's daily training and rehabilitation program, the experimental group participated in three interactive video games for 12 weeks and three 40-minute sessions each week, and the control group only dealt with the center's daily training and rehabilitation activities. The participants were assessed through Ulrich test of gross motor development-2nd edition (TGMD-2), Purdue Pegboard eye-hand coordination test, and autism symptoms severity questionnaire on pre-test, post-test and follow-up sessions. The data were analyzed by repeated measures ANOVA. Results: The results showed that the experimental group had a significant improvement in gross motor skills, and eye-hand coordination compared to the control group (p < 001) which was also constant in the follow-up test. However, there was no significant difference between two groups in terms of the severity of the disorder symptoms (p=0/424). Conclusion: Using video-interactive games is a new strategy for children with autism spectrum disorders that can affect many aspects of the disorder, such as gross motor skills and eye-hand coordination. But investigating the impact of these games on the severity of symptoms of the disorder requires further research.