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Movement Matters - Bringing Fitness into the Lives of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

…there is a small, highly overlooked demographic commonly labeled "special needs" children, with autism being a prevalent diagnosis among this group. You do not see too many young individuals with autism in fitness facilities or working with fitness professionals, but they, as much as any other group in the nation, require the attention and expertise of the fitness community.

By Eric Chessen

The fitness industry is a strange, strange universe. If you are a fitness professional working directly with clients and athletes, you most likely spend a significant amount of time convincing unfit people that they are, in fact, unfit, and it would benefit them to embrace a lifestyle conducive to optimal health. When discussing youth fitness, the chain of persuasion becomes more complex. Those fitness professionals working with youth populations must first convince parents and/or schools to incorporate fitness programs and, given the predominance of sedentary lifestyles among children in the U.S., must gain the participation of children. Then there is a small, highly overlooked demographic commonly labeled "special needs" children, with autism being a prevalent diagnosis among this group. You do not see too many young individuals with autism in fitness facilities or working with fitness professionals, but they, as much as any other group in the nation, require the attention and expertise of the fitness community.

Autism is a pervasive developmental disorder commonly characterized by deficits in socialization and communication, and can include rigid, repetitive behaviors with limited interests in varied or novel stimuli (situations, object, or people) (1). According to the Autism Society of America, autism currently affects 1 in 150 children in the U.S., with a rate of 1 in 94 in males (2). Autism is the short label for autism spectrum disorder. The term "spectrum" refers to the great variance in social and cognitive function which individuals with autism exhibit. A child may be non-verbal, or have very limited expressive language, though have normal or above-average cognitive processing.

Photo (above) courtesy of Time Magazine "The Secrets of Autism"; Photograph For Time By Steve Liss

In some cases, individuals with autism exhibit savant skills, or a propensity for excellence in a particular area, though this is rare and certainly not the norm, as common misconception may perpetuate. Numbers and statistics can be misleading or so overwhelming that it is difficult to consider their implications. To simplify and make this fitness professional-friendly, every time I attend a fitness seminar and speak with other members of the field, invariably someone is related to or knows a child with autism. When I ask about the child being active and involved in a movement development program, the answer is usually in the negative.

Recent research comparing children on the autism spectrum with normal (neurotypical) peers, has yielded data suggesting individuals with autism have greater deficits in performing gross motor movements (3,4,5,6). Whether the origin of the deficit is related to neurological or physiological processes is unclear, however over time, as with all individuals, deficits will result in imbalances, inhibition, compensatory movement, and decreased physical aptitude.

Physical education in the U.S. is in a transitional state. Between budget cuts and an emphasis on sports performance, the concept of fitness has gone AWOL. With the rise of concern over the childhood obesity "epidemic," and a slowly developing awareness of health issues arising from poor diet and lack of exercise, public and private institutions around the country are beginning to search for resolutions. In general, special education programs mirror mainstream programs in terms of their curriculum focus. As physical fitness has not been a highly regarded course of study in mainstream schools, fitness for children with special needs is equally absent.

Physical fitness programs for children should focus on the maintenance and enhancement of gross, and to a lesser extent, fine motor skill patterning with a consideration of developmental stage. Sport-specific "training" for youth populations is an ongoing concern for fitness professionals. Many parents unwittingly pre-dispose children to imbalance and injury by placing them in various sports leagues. The movements required for soccer, football, and baseball are advanced and highly specialized to particular situations. Younger children (ages 5-8) generally have not developed the pre-requisite skills needed for athletic competition, and older children (9-15) may be lacking in foundational motor patterning.

Parents of children with autism have approached me with the desire to develop sport-specific skill programs. As social interaction is a significant deficit in autism, it is understandable that a parent would want a child to interact with peers, and athletic activities are a phenomenal medium for socialization. For children with autism, however, both physical fitness and socialization skills should be introduced in a way that is conducive to independent learning ability and mastery of the target goal. Simply stated, if you simply throw a kid onto the field and hope for the best, he will fail to develop any skills, including the highly important self-esteem and self-efficacy factor.

The physiological needs of children on the autism spectrum are similar, if not the same as, neurotypical children. Any parent or professional incorporating a fitness program into the class or home setting should focus on five basic movement patterns:

Pushing
Pulling
Rotation
Level change
Locomotion

The key to successful integration of a physical fitness program for an individual with autism is in breaking down the steps for each exercise taught; so that each component is learned and mastered (meaning it can be performed independently) prior to teaching the next step. This concept is derived from Applied Behavior Analysis, or ABA, a branch of psychology based in the work of B.F. Skinner.

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