Introduction:The coronavirus pandemic has swept across the United Kingdom (UK). Given the ever-evolving situation, little is known about the repercussions of coronavirus and the subsequent lockdowns for children diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Therefore, this study explores the social-communicative impact of the first lockdown (March 2020 -July 2020) in the UK and the return to school period (September 2020 -October 2020), following prolonged disruption to routine, in children diagnosed with ASD. Methods: Parents of autistic children completed 2 separate online surveys following the first lockdown in the UK (n ¼ 176) and also when children returned to school following the summer break (n ¼ 54). Results: The results suggested that self-regulation skills (p < .05) and co-operation skills (p < .05) were most affected over the course of the lockdown. Children's physical activity levels were perceived to significantly increase during the return to school (p < .0001), which was associated with better social-communication outcomes (p < .05). Conclusion: Future work is needed to confirm and explore the findings. Such work could be implemented to protect and improve the social-communicative outcomes of autistic children.
Autistic individuals often display social-communicative and emotional differences that can affect various aspects of daily living. Furthermore, autistic children are more likely to partake in sedentary activities than their neurotypical counterparts. Therefore, the present study assessed the feasibility and potential efficacy of a dance-based exergame for enhancing autistic children’s social communication skills in the home and school environments. A mixed method, within-subject, pre-test/post-test study design was employed. Children in their home environment (n = 4; Mage = 8.25 years old, SD = 0.50) and school environment (n = 31; Mage = 10.87 years old, SD = 1.61) participated in a structured dance-based exergaming (Just Dance) intervention for six weeks. Measures consisted of a pre-distributed calendar, the Emotion Regulation and Social Skills Questionnaire, behavioural observations, and a semi-structured exit interview with parents and teachers. The intervention positively influenced autistic children’s social communication skills between pre-intervention and post-intervention (P < 0.01) and further results suggested that Just Dance was a fun and enjoyable exergame that was easily implemented in different environments. The present feasibility study advocates that Just Dance is an engaging physical activity that children and parents/teachers can participate in together, within their respective environments. A larger randomised control trial is warranted to confirm the true effectiveness of the dance-based exergame for enhancing autistic children’s social-communication skills.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.