ISSN: 2640-2734
Authors: Kaori Ito, Naoko Matsuda, Shina Morikawa, Kaito Yoshida, Atsuko Morikawa and Hiromi Fujii*
This study aimed to investigate the effect of occupational therapy (OT) on the standing trouser-wearing motion of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Study participants included 12 children (6 boys and 6 girls) with an IQ ranging from 88–113 who were diagnosed with ASD by pediatricians or child psychiatrists and using child development support services and after-school day services for children with disabilities. The therapist conducted 60-min one-on-one OT interventions with participants. The total number of OT interventions for participants ranged from 5 to 11 times. During this period, participants performed one-legged standing and standing trouser-wearing motion four times as an experimental task. Parameters analyzed were foot pressure, center of pressure (COP), and motion analysis. We found that 5 of 12 participants showed improvement in trouser-wearing motion from type 1 to type 2, and three from type 2 to type 3. The anterior-posterior-COP-max, anterior-posterior-COP-trajectory, and medial-lateral-COP-trajectory of the trouser-wearing motion decreased significantly in the third and fourth experimental tasks compared with the first (p<.05); however, there was no significant difference in the medial-lateral-COP-max. Furthermore, participants could bend their trunk forward easily during the final OT intervention. These findings suggest that five sessions of play-based OT could be effective in improving standing trouser-wearing motion in children with ASD. As the effect of OT was not observed in each parameter of one-legged standing, the existence of task specificity is suggested.
Keywords: Play-Based Intervention; Coordination of the Trunk and Upper and Lower Extremities; Putting on Trousers; Motion Analysis; Foot Pressure Distribution; Center of Pressure Trajectory
