Aquatic therapy intervention for improving psychomotor skills in children with autism spectrum disorder: a quasi-experimental study

This study examines the potential of using Aquatic Therapy Application (ATA) to children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Four children, aged 4 to 8 years with ASD, participated in 20 intervention sessions, with one-hour sessions and a student-teacher ratio. This study utilises the Single Case Design method and is carried out using Visual Inspection through the A-B Design approach. The Conatser Adapted Aquatics Swimming Screening Test (CAASST) was used to assess psychomotor skills, and data were collected after every five sessions. Visual analysis revealed consistent improvements across all categories for all participants. Acute and chronic improvements were observed in Psychomotor Skill Adjustment, with acute scores ranging from (m = x1.0 x2.0) and chronic scores from (m = x1.15 x3.0). Similar trends were seen in movement in water, with acute scores ranging from (m = ÷1.25 1.0) and chronic scores from (m = x1.2 x4.0). Moreover, swimming achievement and active movement in water showed acute scores ranging from (m= ÷2.0 x1.5) and chronic scores from (m= x2.0 x4.0). The study supports ATA implementation for enhancing the psychomotor performance of autistic children in learning swimming activities. Aquatic therapy fosters significant improvements in psychomotor skills, psychological and physical adaptation, movement skills in water, and swimming abilities. It may act as an intervention that is valuable for educators, therapists, and parents seeking an effective intervention for children with ASD. The study also discovers that establishing trust among instructors, participants, and parents plays a crucial role in the success of aquatic therapy for children with ASD.