The Autism Society Event and Education Recordings Archive

Exercise can improve attention, reduce depression, and anxiety and decrease maladaptive behavior. This presentation will describe a variety of exercise programs that are both enjoyable and beneficial to students on the autism spectrum. Ways to use commercially available technology to monitor fitness levels will also be discussed. We know that exercise is an effective means of lowering stress, anxiety, panic, and raising general well-being and flexibility in people and especially in persons with neurological differences (Ratey & Hagemann, 2008).  Recently there has been a growing interest in the effect of exercise used as a treatment technique in ASD.  Exercise can help reduce stereotypic behaviors (Petrus et al 2008; Bahrami et al 2012), improve social relations (Garcia-Villamisar & Dattilo 2010; Pan 2010), reduce challenging behaviors (Morrison et al 2011) and reduce BMI (Pitetti et al 2007). Elliot et al (1994) found that vigorous walking on a treadmill improved stimulatory behavior and other maladaptive behaviors such as aggression, self-injury, teeth grinding, and property destruction, in individuals with autism and intellectual disability. Furthermore, an extensive review by Lang et al (2010) found that various exercises (i.e., running/jogging around a track,  swimming, stationary biking, weightlifting, treadmill walking, snow-shoeing, and muscle toning exercises) were found to be beneficial for individuals with autism in either reducing problem behaviors, improving academic performance, improving physical fitness or increasing exercise behavior.

The Center for Discovery is a residential and day educational program for individuals with autism spectrum disorders and also those with multiple disabilities located in the Catskills area of New York. Exercise is one of the treatment components at the Center. We will introduce the audience to programs we have developed to improve the physical fitness and overall health of our residents and students including adapted aerobic dance, EnerGYM (tm) circuit training, dance lessons, pool intensives, and recreational activities. The presenters will show video examples of these programs and will offer strategies to promote motivation to participate in exercise. Brain-based changes that occur from exercise will be described. In addition to providing information on previous research on exercise for those with ASD, we will share direct and collateral benefits we have observed and measured. For example, we found that students who participated in our adapted aerobic dance program demonstrated better ability to remain seated in a lesson that followed. We have also seen a reduction in rates of obesity and overweight status in our residential population as they progress through our program, which has had positive health benefits. Finally, we will share with the audience ways to use commercially available technology to monitor/self-monitor and measure amount and type of physical activity.

Works cited available upon request.

Learning Objectives: