Suriyanamaskar Enhances Physical Fitness of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Abstract

In the recent past there is an increasing awareness on care for special needs population in India. Among all the disabilities Autism is gaining lot of attention and is found to be of most mainly due to the behavioral deviations of children. It is very important to identify children with autism as early as possible. This article being a scientific paper is being translated in Tamil to create awareness among the urban and rural families about autism, its identification, screening, diagnosis and intervention programs for children with autism. One among the most important traditional, natural, side effect free intervention is Yoga. Autism Spectrum Disorder refers to a group of complex neurodevelopment disorders characterized by repetitive and characteristic patterns of behavior and difficulties with social communication and interaction. The symptoms are present from early childhood and affect daily functioning. Evidence-based treatment options for Autism are limited. The objective of this investigation was to examine the effect of Yoga on selected physical fitness variables of children with autism. 20 high functional autistic children between 6 - 13 years were into yoga intervention for 6 weeks. Initial and final testing on physical fitness variables such as flexibility, coordination and strength were conducted. After of the training period post test was conducted on the dependent variables for both the groups. Based on the results it was concluded that the implication of Yoga practice might have been the source of its dominance on the improvement of physical fitness variables of children with autism.