Project R-15294

The effectiveness of CO-OP (Cognitive Orientation to Daily Occupational Performance) in autistic children presenting with different profiles of motor learning: an interventional study (Research)

Autistic children frequently experience difficulties in their social skills and communication. In addition, they often exhibit repetitive and stereotypical behavior. Evidence shows that many of these children also have motor impairments, such as problems with balance, gross motor skills and coordination. Despite their prevalence, these motor characteristics are not yet recognized as a basic characteristic of autism. Nevertheless, it is important to give it sufficient attention and to support these children where necessary. Therefore, the aim of this study is to 1) gain a better understanding of the motor profile of autistic children and the associated motor learning and 2) investigate the effect of an existing treatment strategy (Cognitive Orientation to Daily Occupational Performance or CO-OP) on praxis, balance and gross motor skills in these children. Praxis is the ability to plan, organize, and execute complex tasks with a series of actions in a variety of environments. Autistic children often experience difficulties in performing actions correctly with certain objects, sometimes do not perform complex tasks in the right order, or perform them with insufficient fluidity. A possible cause of this is dyspraxia (limitations in praxis). Children with autism often have difficulty forming an idea of how the task should be performed, which is called ideational dyspraxia. On the other hand, the motor problems may be related to a problem in the automation process of performing activities and they do not have problems with praxis. We will examine this, in regards to the first goal, with a newly developed praxis test for gross motor skills. For the second goal, we will have a group of children with autism participate in a CO-OP intervention to investigate the effect of this on praxis, balance and gross motor skills. To check the effectiveness on balance, we will use the Kids-BESTest-2. In order to be able to use this renewed version of the test in a completely reliable and valid way, this project will first focus on further analysis of the standardization and test-retest reliability of the test. The general goal of this project is to give more attention to the motor difficulties in autistic children and to offer opportunities to the clinical world to address these problems in a correct and individual way according to the motor profile that these children show.

01 October 2024 - 30 September 2028