A Protocol for Basketball as Inclusive Sport to Boost Motor and Social Skills in Autistic Preschoolers
Abstract
1. Introduction
2. Materials and Methods
2.1. EB-Protocol Design and Sample Recruitment
2.2. Participants
2.3. Measures
2.3.1. Preschoolers’ Motor Skills
2.3.2. Preschoolers’ Socio-Emotional Skills
2.3.3. Parent-Reported Evaluation of Preschoolers’ Skills
2.3.4. Parent-Reported Perception of Social Inclusion via Sports Activities
2.4. Statistical Analyses
3. Results
3.1. Descriptive Results
3.2. Parent-Reported Evaluation of Preschoolers’ Skills
3.3. Parent-Reported Perception of Social Inclusion via Sports Activities
3.4. Longitudinal Data Analysis
4. Discussion
Strengths and Limitations
5. Conclusions
Practical Implications and Future Directions
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Conflicts of Interest
Appendix A
Child Age (Months) | Griffith Gross-Motor Scale | Griffith DQ 2 | FERT_H | FERT_S | FERT_F | FERT_A | FERT_T | BEPT_H | BEPT_S | BEPT_F | BEPT_A | BEPT_T | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ASD group | |||||||||||||
ID1 | 61 | 14 | 117 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 20 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 12 |
ID2 | 55.1 | 3 | 60 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
ID3 1 | 64.8 | 0 | 50 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
ID4 | 56 | 11 | 104 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 11 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 7 |
TD group | |||||||||||||
ID5 | 64.7 | 15 | 124 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 20 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 15 |
ID6 | 42.5 | 11 | 103 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 18 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 8 |
ID7 | 52.9 | 10 | 101 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 20 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 14 |
ID8 | 38.5 | 13 | 117 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 5 |
ID9 | 51.8 | 13 | 117 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 16 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 12 |
ID10 | 63.5 | 6 | 78 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 20 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 15 |
ID11 | 45.9 | 8 | 89 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
ID12 | 40.5 | 12 | 109 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 5 | 16 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 9 |
ID13 | 57.9 | 13 | 112 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 20 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 15 |
Parameter | ANOVA-Type Test Statistic | Relative Treatment Effects | Hedges’s g (LoCI, HiCI 95%) | Mann–Whitney U | Bonferroni’s Correction | Mean (SD) | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
F (df) | p | TD-Group | ASD-Group | |||||||
(P1) Motor and social skills | Group | 0.792 (1, ∞) | 0.373 | TD group: 3.39 (0.70) | ASD group: 3.25 (0.46) | |||||
Time | 6.173 (1, ∞) | 0.012 | 0.006 | Pre: 3.08 (0.64) | Post: 3.61 (0.51) | |||||
Group*Time | 0.005 (1, ∞) | 0.943 | TD*pre = 0.42 | ASD*pre = 0.33 | TD group*pre: 3.11 (0.78) | ASD group*pre: 3 (0) | ||||
TD*post = 0.63 | ASD*post = 0.56 | TD group*post: 3.67 (0.50) | ASD group*post: 3.5 (0.58) | |||||||
Modified-ANOVA-Type Test Statistic | F(1,8) = 0.792; p = 0.397 | 5.39 (4.20, 6.56) | ||||||||
(P2) Social relation skills via EB | Group | 2.223 (1, ∞) | 0.135 | TD group: 3.28 (0.89) | ASD group: 3.75 (0.46) | |||||
Time | 4.405 (1, ∞) | 0.035 | 0.017 | Pre: 3.15 (0.89) | Post: 3.69 (0.63) | |||||
Group*Time | 0.080 (1, ∞) | 0.776 | TD*pre = 0.54 | ASD*pre = 0.69 | TD group*pre: 3.56 (0.73) | ASD group*pre: 4 (0) | ||||
TD*post = 0.32 | ASD*post = 0.49 | TD group*post: 3 (0) | ASD group*post: 3.5 (0.58) | |||||||
Modified-ANOVA-Type Test Statistic | F(1,9) = 2.223; p = 0.167 | 4.46 (3.58, 5.68) | ||||||||
(P3) Child’s emotional competence | Group | 6.148 (1, ∞) | 0.013 | U = 31.500; p = 0.013 | 0.006 | TD group: 2.5 (0.51) | ASD group: 1.75 (0.70) | |||
Time | 16.976 (1, ∞) | 0.000 | U = 61.000; p = 0.046 | <0.000 | Pre: 2.08 (0.76) | Post: 2.46 (0.52) | ||||
Group*Time | 9.505 (1, ∞) | 0.002 | TD*pre = 0.56 | ASD*pre = 0.13 | 0.001 | TD group*pre: 2.44 (0.53) | ASD group*pre: 1.25 (0.50) | |||
TD*post = 0.61 | ASD*post = 0.47 | TD group*post: 2.56 (0.53) | ASD group*post: 2.25 (0.50) | |||||||
Modified-ANOVA-Type Test Statistic | F(1,6) = 6.148; p = 0.048 | 3.35 (2.50, 4.19) | ||||||||
(P4) Child’s social competence | Group | 8.047 (1, ∞) | 0.004 | U = 39.000; p = 0.024 | 0.002 | TD group: 2.17 (0.51) | ASD group: 1.62 (0.52) | |||
Time | 7.225 (1, ∞) | 0.007 | U = 62.500; p = 0.032 | 0.003 | Pre: 1.85 (0.69) | Post: 2.15 (0.37) | ||||
Group*Time | 3.977 (1, ∞) | 0.046 | TD*pre = 0.55 | ASD*pre = 0.18 | 0.023 | TD group*pre: 2.11 (0.60) | ASD group*pre: 1.25 (0.50) | |||
TD*post = 0.59 | ASD*post = 0.50 | TD group*post: 2.22 (0.44) | ASD group*post: 2 (0) | |||||||
Modified-ANOVA-Type Test Statistic | F(1,9) = 8.047; p = 0.018 | 3.20 (2.37, 4.02) | ||||||||
(P5) Child’s gross-motor skills | Group | 5.094 (1, ∞) | 0.024 | U = 40.500; p = 0.047 | 0.012 | TD group: 2.55 (0.61) | ASD group: 2.12 (0.35) | |||
Time | 4.684 (1, ∞) | 0.030 | U = 56.000; p > 0.05 | 0.015 | Pre: 2.23 (0.60) | Post: 2.61 (0.51) | ||||
Group*Time | 0.238 (1, ∞) | 0.625 | TD*pre = 0.47 | ASD*pre = 0.29 | TD group*pre: 2.33 (0.71) | ASD group*pre: 2 (0) | ||||
TD*post = 0.66 | ASD*post = 0.41 | TD group*post: 2.78 (0.44) | ASD group*post: 2.25 (0.50) | |||||||
Modified-ANOVA-Type Test Statistic | F(1,10) = 5.094; p = 0.046 | 3.95 (3.01, 4.89) |
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Step | Activities |
---|---|
(a) 10 min circle time on greetings and warm-up | During circle time, operators introduced the emotion game: they showed the children’s balls displaying the 5 basic emotions (happiness, fear, sadness, anger, and neutral) and asked them to recognize the emotion and to produce it. After this game, the coaches started the motor warm-up (e.g., walking and running). |
(b) 20 min sports activity on basic basketball skills | During the sports activity, each operator supported an autistic child (dyadic relationship) in walking, running, pushing, grabbing, crawling, dribbling, ball-passing, shooting, and handling). To promote the social and inclusive setting, during the ball-passing, shooting, and handling activities, the operators supported both an autistic child and a typically developing peer (triadic relationship). |
(c) 5 min time break | During the break, coaches and operators solicited and supported all children to socialize among themselves. |
(d) 20 min basketball match | During the match, the coaches structured the activities to improve motor and balance control, space orientation, and visual anticipation. All activities were defined taking account of autistic symptomatology. Operators supported all children in dyadic, triadic, and small group sports activities. |
(e) 5 min cool-down and circle time on good-bye | This step was similar to step (a). Specifically, to reinforce the children’s emotional competence (in terms of recognition and production), the operators again proposed the emotion game and socio-interactive activities (i.e., a song with facial expressions and gestures) centered on emotions. The socio-interactive activities led to a decrease in the children’s arousal because of the sports activity. |
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Levante, A.; Martis, C.; Antonioli, G.; Dima, M.; Duma, L.; Perrone, M.; Lecciso, F. A Protocol for Basketball as Inclusive Sport to Boost Motor and Social Skills in Autistic Preschoolers. Disabilities 2024, 4, 955-971. https://doi.org/10.3390/disabilities4040059
Levante A, Martis C, Antonioli G, Dima M, Duma L, Perrone M, Lecciso F. A Protocol for Basketball as Inclusive Sport to Boost Motor and Social Skills in Autistic Preschoolers. Disabilities. 2024; 4(4):955-971. https://doi.org/10.3390/disabilities4040059
Chicago/Turabian StyleLevante, Annalisa, Chiara Martis, Giuseppe Antonioli, Massimo Dima, Luigia Duma, Marco Perrone, and Flavia Lecciso. 2024. "A Protocol for Basketball as Inclusive Sport to Boost Motor and Social Skills in Autistic Preschoolers" Disabilities 4, no. 4: 955-971. https://doi.org/10.3390/disabilities4040059
APA StyleLevante, A., Martis, C., Antonioli, G., Dima, M., Duma, L., Perrone, M., & Lecciso, F. (2024). A Protocol for Basketball as Inclusive Sport to Boost Motor and Social Skills in Autistic Preschoolers. Disabilities, 4(4), 955-971. https://doi.org/10.3390/disabilities4040059