Download or read book The Effectiveness of Participation in Sports Program on Social Interactions Among Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder written by Amer Jafar and published by . This book was released on 2017 with total page 208 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: One of the biggest issues experienced by people diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is difficulty with social communication and interaction, which affects an individual's involvement with peers. The purpose of the study was to examine the impact of participation in soccer activities on social interactions for children with ASD. This study attempted to answer the following question: Does participation in an organized sports soccer activity result in increased social interaction for two children with ASD? This study used pre-post treatment, often called an AB single-subject design. This study utilized an AB design, where data was obtained regarding the frequency and duration of participants' interaction before and after receiving an intervention. This study analyzed data that measured and reported changes in social interaction that occurred through interactive play. Seven sessions were separated into two baseline sessions and five interventions sessions, with two participants, a research assistant as coach, and two trained typically-developing peers; these sessions were video recorded. This researcher compared the total number of interactions of frequency and duration the participants in each session. This study was successful in answering the simple question of whether the amount of social interaction initiated by the children with ASD increased, as measured by frequency and duration of interactions. A t-test was conducted to address the question in frequency and duration. The significant increase in the frequency of the initiated interactions between the children with ASD, when they were communicating with each other, form baseline average demonstrates a clear pattern of increased confidence with attempting to engage with a peer. Key words: ASD, children, sports, soccer, single-subject design, autism, Autism Spectrum Disorders