Effects Of Different Game Intervention On The Executive Function Of Children With Autism

As a pervasive developmental disorder,autism patients show abnormalities in social interaction,language communication and interest behavior,which seriously affects their integration into social life.Two core disorders of autism are related to executive dysfunction.As the core cognitive ability,executive function integrates and regulates various cognitive activities and behaviors when people are completing specific tasks.However,there are certain problems in the executive function of children with autism,which have a negative impact on their behavior and cognition,such as the generation of stereotyped behavior.Under the background of social integration and the development of social adaptability,how to improve the executive function of children with autism is an inevitable topic of discussion.Play is widely used as an intervention to improve children’s executive functions,such as sports games and pretend play.However,the existing research on game intervention mostly focused on ordinary children rather than children with autism.This study used three different types of games,including sports games,pretend games,and combined games,to intervene children with autism to examine the effect of the game intervention on the executive function of children with autism.This study included 24 children with autism（18 boys,6 girls,3.17±0.54 years）.All subjects were divided into three groups with no difference in the pretest level of executive function.Then,these three groups were intervened with sports games,pretend games and comprehensive games respectively.Therefore,the three groups of subjects can also be called sports games group,pretend game group and comprehensive game group respectively.The entire intervention period was 8 weeks,with a mid-test after 4 weeks and a post-test at the end.The results show that:（1）The effect of sports games on the executive function of autistic children is mainly reflected in working memory and cognitive flexibility.The intervention effect on working memory is reflected in the early stage of intervention,and the intervention effect on cognitive flexibility is reflected in post-intervention.（2）The effect of pretend play on the executive function of children with autism is mainly reflected in working memory and cognitive flexibility,and the effect of the intervention is reflected in the later stage of the intervention.（3）The effects of comprehensive games on the executive function of children with autism are mainly reflected in inhibitory control ability,working memory,and cognitive flexibility.The intervention effects on working memory and cognitive flexibility are reflected in the entire intervention cycle.（4）The intervention effect of the comprehensive game is better than that of the single game.Based on the above conclusions,this study puts forward the following suggestions:（1）Infiltrate games into teaching based on the cognitive development characteristics of children with autism.（2）Design game plans in a targeted manner with reference to the intervention effects of different games.（3）Optimize the comprehensive game design and promote the comprehensive development of executive functions.（4）Seize the validity period of the intervention to boost the educational cooperation of children with autism.