Balance and Coordination Improvements in Children and Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), Resulting from a Hydrotherapy Intervention

Highlights: What are the main findings? Hydrotherapy intervention improves motor challenges in children and adolescents with ASD. Hydrotherapy intervention improves communication, independence, as well as other core issues in children and adolescents with ASD. What are the implications of the main findings? Hydrotherapy should be considered as a common therapeutic possibility for children and adolescents with ASD. Background/objective: Despite the fact that almost 87% of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) have physical coordination issues, motor skills are not the primary concern when ASD is diagnosed. An aquatic environment can provide multisensory stimuli that might assist these children; however, studies related to hydrotherapy with children with ASD have not yet examined whether this environment has an effect on balance and coordination. Methods: A control vs. research group examined the effect of a weekly, three-month hydrotherapy program on the balance and coordination abilities of male children and adolescents diagnosed with high-functioning ASD. Children (N = 22) between the ages of 6 and 17 years (mean: 8.4 ± 2.4), participated in this study. Each participant’s coordination and balance abilities were evaluated using the Movement Assessment Battery for Children-Second Edition (M-ABC-II). The initial evaluation (test one) was repeated (test two) after two months to establish improvement prior to intervention. The final evaluation (test three) was conducted at intervention termination. Individual functional goals were set for each patient using the Goal Attainment Scale (GAS). Results: No improvement was noted within the pre-intervention period (between tests one and two), yet there was a statistically significant improvement in the M-ABC-II Total Test score (p = 0.0133), in Manual Dexterity (p = 0.0181), and balance (p = 0.0053) post-intervention, between tests two and three. The mean GAS score for this study was 52.1, suggesting the achievement of prespecified functional goals. Conclusions: This study demonstrated a positive impact of a 12-week hydrotherapy program on balance and coordination and manual dexterity among children with ASD. A positive impact was also noted in patients’ individual functional abilities.