Authors
Abstract
The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of a selected physical activity
program on the development of motor skills in children with attention deficit /
hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and high functioning autism (HFA). In this semiexperimental
research, 20 children (8.8+0.7 years old) with HFA and 10 children
(7.9+1.4 years old) with ADHD based on pretest scores were randomly selected.
Bruininks – Oseretsky test of motor proficiency (BOTMP) for children with ADHD
and test of gross motor developmental – 2 for children with HFA were used.
Selected motor program (SPARK motor program) which included motor
strengthening activities, games and sports for children was performed 18 sessions
for ADHD children and 12 sessions for HFA children. K-S test to determine the
normality of data distribution and statistical t tests, Levene test and covariate
analysis were used to compare the means. The results showed the selected program
made significant changes in most variables in ADHD and HFA children in
experiment group but not in control group. According to the results of this
research, it is suggested that the selected physical activity program (SPARK) can
improve motor skills in children with ADHD and HFA.
Keywords
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