Touali Rachid, Zerouaoui Jamal, Chakir El Mahjoub, Bui Hung Tien, Leone Mario, Allisse Maxime
Faculty of Sciences, University of Ibn Tofail, Kénitra, Morocco.
Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, QC, Canada.
JMIR Form Res. 2025 Mar 26;9:e65767. doi: 10.2196/65767.
Children with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) often struggle with processing information, which can impact their coordination, balance, and other motor skills. Studies have demonstrated that intervention programs based on sensory integration can enhance motor performance in these children.
The objective of this study is to evaluate the applicability of a standardized battery of gross motor skill tests for Moroccan children aged 6 to 12 years with ASD. The objective is to assess the potential efficacy of an innovative pedagogical approach focused on sensorimotor integration and hyperstimulation. This approach will be compared to traditional physical education (PE) sessions to determine its feasibility and potential to bridge the developmental gaps in motor skills between children with ASD and those with a neurotypical profile.
A convenience sample of 14 Moroccan children with ASD aged 6 to 12 years participated in this exploratory study. Children with ASD were divided into an experimental group (n=7) and a control group (n=7) based on age, sex, motor performance, and socioeconomic status. The control group followed the standard PE program, while the experimental group underwent a specialized program combining sensorimotor integration and hyperstimulation for a period of 15 weeks. All participants were classified as level 2 (moderate) on the Autism Severity Rating Scale based on the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition, Text Revision (DSM-5-TR) criteria. Gross motor skills were measured at baseline and after 15 weeks of intervention using the UQAC-UQAM (University of Québec in Chicoutimi-University of Québec in Montréal) test battery protocol, which includes 10 items.
At baseline (T1), no significant difference was observed between the control and experimental groups of children with ASD. Following the 15-week intervention, the group participating in traditional PE showed an overall improvement in motor skills of approximately 14.5%. Conversely, the results of the ASD experimental group suggest a more substantial improvement of 44.5%. Additionally, the experimental group exhibited significant better performance across all motor skill variables compared to the control group (minimum P values of <.02) with large effect sizes (>0.80). In this regard, a 2-way repeated measures ANOVA confirms the efficiency of the program implemented within the experimental group, demonstrating significant effects associated with both group and time factors as well as a clinically highly significant group×time interaction across all measured variables (ηp>0.14).
The results of this study suggest that the approach that emphasizes sensorimotor integration and management of hyperstimulation was more effective in improving motor skills in this population. However, other more exhaustive studies will need to be carried out in order to be able to more precisely measure the full potential of this approach.
自闭症谱系障碍（ASD）儿童在信息处理方面常常存在困难，这可能会影响他们的协调能力、平衡能力和其他运动技能。研究表明，基于感觉统合的干预计划可以提高这些儿童的运动表现。
本研究的目的是评估一套标准化的大肌肉运动技能测试对摩洛哥6至12岁ASD儿童的适用性。目的是评估一种专注于感觉运动整合和过度刺激的创新教学方法的潜在效果。将这种方法与传统体育课进行比较，以确定其在弥合ASD儿童与神经典型儿童之间运动技能发展差距方面的可行性和潜力。
14名年龄在6至12岁的摩洛哥ASD儿童组成的便利样本参与了这项探索性研究。根据年龄、性别、运动表现和社会经济地位，将ASD儿童分为实验组（n = 7）和对照组（n = 7）。对照组遵循标准体育课程，而实验组接受为期15周的结合感觉运动整合和过度刺激的专门课程。根据《精神疾病诊断与统计手册》第五版修订版（DSM - 5 - TR）标准，所有参与者在自闭症严重程度评定量表上被归类为2级（中度）。在干预前和干预15周后，使用魁北克大学奇科蒂米分校 - 蒙特利尔魁北克大学（UQAC - UQAM）测试电池协议测量大肌肉运动技能，该协议包括10个项目。
在基线（T1）时，ASD儿童的对照组和实验组之间未观察到显著差异。经过15周的干预后，参加传统体育课的组运动技能总体提高了约14.5%。相反，ASD实验组的结果表明有更显著的44.5%的提高。此外，与对照组相比，实验组在所有运动技能变量上均表现出显著更好的成绩（最小P值<0.02），效应量较大（>0.80）。在这方面，双向重复测量方差分析证实了实验组实施的计划的有效性，表明与组和时间因素相关的显著效应以及在所有测量变量上临床上高度显著的组×时间交互作用（ηp>0.14）。
本研究结果表明，强调感觉运动整合和过度刺激管理的方法在改善该人群的运动技能方面更有效。然而，需要进行其他更详尽的研究，以便能够更精确地衡量这种方法的全部潜力。
