Dancing Out for a Voice; a Narrative Review of the Literature Exploring Autism, Physical Activity and Dance.

Abstract

Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs) are characterised by profound deficits in social communication and social interaction, and repetitive patterns of behaviour, interests, or activities. Currently, few therapeutic interventions successfully target some of the unwanted symptoms associated with autism; such as limited communication. New research suggests that instead of combating all symptoms associated with ASD, scientific research should focus on providing therapeutic tools that target specific symptoms. Owing to the nature of physical activity, sports and dance (coordinate movement), these activities could provide opportunities to enhance communication skills and social development in children diagnosed with ASD. Therefore, this paper narratively reviews the literature surrounding communication and coordinated movement; delineating what is meant by communication deficits and exploring the benefits of coordinated movement for symptoms associated with ASD. Additionally, we investigate how various physical activities, with a strong focus on dance, can be used as a platform to enhance communication.

Parent-reported social-communication changes in children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder during the COVID-19 pandemic in the UK

“…The significant increase in the level of physical activity during the return to school was significantly associated with better social-communicative outcomes in our sample of autistic children, thus suggesting the importance of physical activity for enhancing or maintaining social development. Although this association is only preliminary, our results are in line with previous research that highlights the benefits of physical activity for developing communications skills and improving social development in the autistic population (Morris et al 2020, Sam et al 2015. As a result, future research may wish to build on current research (Yarı mkaya and Esent€ urk 2020) and investigate how physical activity levels can be maintained if there is a possibility of returning to a lockdown, or for those who do not readily have access to 'green-space' for physical activities.…”