Author(s): PAN, C., HUANG, C., LU, T., CHEN, P., LIN, Y., CHEN, W., Institution: NATIONAL KAOHSIUNG NORMAL UNIVERSITY, Country: TAIWAN, Abstract-ID: 798

Introduction
This study examined the effects of yoga intervention on the motor proficiency of children with and without autism spectrum disorders (ASD).

Methods
The study recruited 20 children diagnosed with ASD and 20 typically developing (TD) children aged 6–12 years. Within each diagnostic group, participants were randomly assigned to either an exercise (E) condition or a control (C) condition. Consequently, 10 children with ASD (ASD-E) and 10 TD children (TD-E) were assigned to the exercise condition, while the remaining 10 children with ASD (ASD-C) and 10 TD children (TD-C) were assigned to the control condition. Children in the ASD-E and TD-E groups received the same yoga-based intervention; however, the two diagnostic groups were treated as separate groups for analytical purposes. The intervention consisted of 80-minute yoga sessions conducted twice weekly over a 12-week period. Participants in the control groups did not receive any yoga training. Motor proficiency was assessed using the Bruininks-Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency–Second Edition (BOT-2) before and after the intervention. Statistical analyses were performed using two-way analyses of covariance (ANCOVA; Disability x Intervention), with baseline motor proficiency scores entered as covariates. The level of statistical significance was set at p < .05.

Results
At baseline, TD participants showed significantly higher motor proficiency scores than participants with ASD across multiple domains, including total motor composite (F(3, 36) = 12.85, p < .001), fine motor control (F(3, 36) = 3.25, p = .033), manual coordination (F(3, 36) = 10.67, p < .001), body coordination (F(3, 36) = 5.59, p = .003), and strength and agility (F(3, 36) = 11.77, p < .001). A two-way ANCOVA revealed a significant and positive main effect of Intervention (E vs. C) on total motor composite (F(1, 35) = 5.00, p = .032), fine motor control (F(1, 35) = 4.16, p = .049), and strength and agility (F(1, 35) = 4.70, p = .037). No significant Disability differences were found in scores for any of the motor outcomes. Furthermore, significant interaction effect was observed only for fine motor control. The ASD-E group performed significantly better than the ASD-C group (F(1, 17) = 11.80, p = .003) after the intervention. No significant differences were found between the ASD-E and TD-E groups on fine motor control at posttest. The ASD-C group, however, demonstrated significantly poorer fine motor control than the TD-C group (F(1, 17) = 10.97, p = .004) at posttest.

Discussion
Although children with ASD showed lower baseline motor proficiency than their TD peers, the yoga-based intervention was found to improve overall motor performance, most notably in fine motor control, where ASD-E did not differ from TD-E at posttest.

Acknowledgments
Supported by Taiwan MOST grants 106-2410-H-017-022-MY3 & NSTC grants 112-2410-H-017-029-MY2.