Previous research has shown that outdoor adventure programs can be used effectively as a therapeutic tool for people with disabilities. Such research has generally not included young children. This study expands that literature by investigating the effectiveness of an outdoor adventure program for young children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD).
The study included 51 participants enrolled in seven different special education programs for young children (age 3-7) with ASD in Israel. Four of the seven special education programs were randomly chosen to participate in an outdoor adventure program. Participating students (N=30) in these programs served as the intervention group. Students (N=21) in the other three programs did not participate in the outdoor adventure program and served as the control group. The two groups were similar in age and sex, and – at the beginning of the study – showed similar levels of functioning on cognitive and adaptive behavior measures. Additionally, the two groups received the same type and intensity of special education services and were from the same municipal area. The outdoor adventure program for the intervention group consisted of weekly 30-minute sessions extending over a 13-week period. The sessions were conducted in urban parks and included challenging physical activities requiring cooperation and communication with peers and instructors. Assessments, completed before and after the program on students in both groups, focused on the severity of autism symptoms, adaptive skills, and teachers' perception of the child's expected future capabilities.
Assessment results after the intervention showed differences between the two groups in severity of autism symptoms. While the intervention group showed a reduction in severity, the control group showed the opposite. These differences were noted in the areas of social cognition, social motivation, social communication, and autistic mannerisms, with the largest increase in social communication. Improvement in this area reflects gains in verbal and non-verbal communication, imitation, and social reciprocal behaviors. Post-intervention results in the other two assessment areas (adaptive skills and teachers' perception of the child's expected future capabilities) showed no differences between the two groups. These findings could indicate that the intervention was not long enough to allow change in these areas.
The overall results of this study indicate that outdoor adventure programs may reduce severity of ASD symptoms and promote social communication skills in young children with ASD. These results suggest “that an outdoor adventure programme might be an important complementary intervention alongside more traditional treatments in young children with ASD.”
Research Partner