Assessing and increasing physical activity engagement for individuals with autism

Document Type

Thesis

College

College of Arts and Sciences

Department

Psychology

Degree

M.S. Applied Behavior Analysis

Date Completed

2020

First Committee Member

Roscoe, Eileen

Second Committee Member

Thompson, Rachel

Third Committee Member

Ahearn, William

Abstract

"Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) are at risk for having sedentary lifestyles and rarely meet the CDC’s recommendations for physical activity (PA) engagement (National Physical Activity Plan Alliance, 2018). Most research on increasing PA engagement has been conducted with typically developing individuals, therefore the treatment procedures and PA tasks used may not be applicable to individuals with ASD, particularly those with limited communicative repertoires. The purpose of this study was to develop a systematic technology for increasing PA engagement for individuals with ASD. First, a physical activity analysis, that involved sequentially introducing treatment components in a preference assessment context, was conducted. Next, the effective treatment and PA task associated with the highest levels of PA engagement was assessed during a generality analysis with repeated 10-min sessions, using a reversal design. A selection-based preference assessment showed that participants selected the PA task when it was associated with treatment relative to control."

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