Physical activity in youth with autism can be boosted by picture books

The findings published in the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis also offer low-income families a simple resource for workout motivation when outdoor fitness equipment might not be accessible.

Washington: The findings of recent research have suggested that people with developmental disabilities don’t exercise as often as their typically developed peers. In an effort to close this disparity, a researcher at the University of Missouri recently created fitness picture books that help youth with autism exercise more frequently.

The findings published in the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis also offer low-income families a simple resource for workout motivation when outdoor fitness equipment might not be accessible. “There is so much research geared toward helping individuals with autism improve their academic performance, social skills and communication skills, but we also need to remember how important physical activity is for living a healthy lifestyle,” said Lorraine Becerra, an assistant teaching professor at the MU College of Education.

“There are numerous health benefits of exercise, such as pumping blood in your body, better sleep and reduced risk of obesity. Also, if we can get kids with autism more physically engaged, they are more likely to run around and play with their peers, so there are other aspects of their life we can improve as well.” Becerra is also a behaviour analyst at the Thompson Center for Autism and Neurodevelopmental Disorders. Since some of her former clients with autism had body mass indexes that had risen to unhealthy levels due to excessive sedentary behaviour, their caregivers asked Becerra to develop creative ways to encourage their children to exercise more.

So, in a recent research study, Becerra created fitness picture books that contained step-by-step images of various exercises, such as jumping jacks, bear crawls and lunges. The picture books were successfully utilised to increase the amount of time the individuals with autism engaged in physical activity.