A Case Study Of Sports Game Teaching Intervention On Self-stimulatory Behavior Of Children With Autis

Children with autism have a high incidence of self-stimulatory behaviors,which can take a variety of complex forms,such as uncontrolled shaking,flapping,hitting the body,and prolonged gaze at a rotating object.Such behaviors can seriously interfere with the normal interpersonal activities of children with autism and even lead to impairment of their social functioning,causing damage to their physical and mental health.This shows that it is necessary to improve the self-stimulatory behaviors of children with autism as a research topic.Existing research suggests that self-stimulation in autism is related to sensory integration disorder,and sensory integration theory reveals that giving children with autism appropriate sensory stimulation can improve their sensory integration disorder.Physical games are consistent with this theory and meet the physical and mental developmental needs of children.Therefore,this study conducted a sports game design project integrating sensory integration theory to intervene in the self-stimulation behavior of children with autism through sports game teaching.The purpose of this study is to provide autistic children with appropriate sensory stimulation during physical games,so as to enhance their sensory integration ability and improve self-stimulation behavior,and to verify the relationship between self-stimulation behavior and sensory integration disorder in order to add to the research on self-stimulation behavior intervention for autistic children.In this study,two children with mild to moderate autism were selected as case study subjects for a four-month intervention.The study was divided into three phases:in the first phase,the functional behavior assessment,sensory integration function assessment,and PEP-3assessment were used to identify the performance and motivation of self-stimulatory behaviors,the type of sensory integration disorder,and the level of physical and mental development of the subjects.In the second stage,based on the results of the first stage assessment and combined with the sensory integration theory,a targeted sports game will be designed for each of the two subjects.In the third stage,a single-subject experimental method will be used to conduct experimental interventions on the two subjects through physical education games,and the frequency of self-stimulatory behaviors will be observed and recorded in each period.The results of the study obtained by analyzing and processing the data are shown below:（1）The self-stimulatory behaviors of subject one were hand clapping and head shaking,and the kinetic factors were accessing hand tactile stimulation and vestibular stimulation,and the corresponding types of sensory integration disorder were severe disorder of tactile defense and severe vestibular imbalance;the self-stimulatory behaviors of subject two were spinning in place and waving arms and legs,and the kinetic factors were accessing vestibular stimulation and proprioceptive stimulation,and the corresponding types of sensory integration disorder were vestibular imbalance and proprioceptive imbalance.（2）The mean frequency of hand clapping and head shaking in subject 1 decreased from23.00 and 27.00 to 10.50 and 15.75,respectively,with a decrease of about 56%and 42%,while the mean frequency of circle in place and hand and foot waving in subject 2 decreased from13.33 and 17.17 to 2.83 and 6.58,respectively,with a decrease of about 79%and 62%,respectively.（3）During the maintenance period A₂,the standard deviation of the frequency of hand clapping and head shaking behaviors decreased from 3.225 and 1.789 to 1.517 and 1.211,respectively,in subject one,and the standard deviation of the frequency of circle-in-place and hand and foot waving behaviors decreased from 1.211 and 1.472 to 1.169 and 1.211,respectively,in subject two.（4）The standard scores of sensory integration tests for vestibular imbalance,tactile defense,and proprioception in subject one increased from 27,29,and 35 to 33,32,and 37,respectively,and the standard scores of sensory integration tests for vestibular imbalance,tactile defense,and proprioception in subject two increased from 34,37,and 32 to 38,39,and 37,respectively.The following conclusions of the study were drawn from the above results:（1）The frequency of self-stimulatory behaviors in both Subject 1,a child with moderate autism,and Subject 2,a child with mild autism,decreased through the physical game teaching intervention,indicating that physical games have a positive effect on improving self-stimulatory behaviors in children with mild and moderate autism.（2）The frequency of self-stimulatory behaviors in both subjects remained lower than the original level after the withdrawal of the physical game teaching intervention with little fluctuation,which proved that the physical game teaching intervention had a good maintenance effect on self-stimulatory behaviors.（3）In the present study,the sensory integration ability of both subjects improved through the physical game teaching intervention.As the sensory integration function improved,the corresponding self-stimulatory behaviors decreased accordingly.Through descriptive functional assessment and sensory integration function assessment,it was found that the sensory stimulation needs of self-stimulation behaviors in both subjects were consistent with sensory integration disorder,and this result was consistent with previous studies,which verified the association between self-stimulation behaviors and sensory integration disorder.