Efeitos de atividades psicomotoras sobre o desenvolvimento motor de alunos com Transtorno do Espectro Autista

Abstract

The present study aimed to analyze the effects of psychomotor activities on motor development applied to students with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). The sample consisted of ten students diagnosed with ASD, aged between 7 and 11 years, with support levels 1 and/or 2, regularly enrolled in the 1st to 5th grades of elementary school at the Antônio Gonçalves Dias Municipal School, located in the municipality of Foz do Iguaçu, Paraná. The research was characterized as quasi-experimental with a mixed- -methods approach. The method did not include a control group. Before the development of the psychomotor activities, the students were evaluated using the Motor Development Scale (Rosa Neto, 2020). Based on these results, individualized psychomotor activities were developed and subsequently worked on with each participant, taking into account their needs and potential. Each student participated in 16 sessions of 30 minutes each. At the end, the students were reassessed using the same scale, allowing for verification of progress in motor development and evaluation of the effectiveness of the proposed interventions. The results showed that all students with ASD achieved progress in 100% of the elements studied. The median scores for fine motor skills and gross motor skills remained the same in the pre-tests and post- tests, marking 108 months. The positive impact was especially observed in the areas of balance, body scheme, and temporal and spatial organization. Finally, through the proposed activities where lesson plans were developed, an ebook was created with the aim of assisting physical education teachers who wish to work on motor development in students with ASD. These lesson plans were part of the psychomotor activity sessions that each student with ASD participated in, emphasizing that the activities were individualized and aimed to develop motor skills in which the students showed deficits. The Motor Development Scale (Rosa Neto, 2020) was effective in supporting the construction of psychomotor activities, as it perfectly identified the motor elements in which the students needed to improve. Individualized and systematized psychomotor activities contributed to the achievement of the objectives, as all students managed to improve in most of the motor skills indicators.