Association for Behavior Analysis International

Increasing physical activity for children diagnosed with intellectual or developmental disabilities is essential. Research promoting physical activity in this population is scarce, however, some research suggests physical activity may decrease problem behavior and promote prosocial behavior, in addition to other health benefits (e.g., increase cardiovascular health). The current study aimed to identify which variables increase physical activity and how the variables affect problem behavior in children diagnosed with developmental disabilities. The participants were observed in different contexts (i.e., fixed equipment, open space, exercise video, control, and outdoor toys). Data were collected on participants’ physical activity, activity context engagement, and problem behavior. Additionally, a multielement functional analysis of challenging behavior was conducted. Researchers identified a higher rate of MVPA in one or more conditions when compared to control and other test conditions. Problem behavior did not occur or remained low during physical activity sessions for all participants.

Few children meet the recommended guidelines for daily moderate to vigorous physical activity. For children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) this gap is even wider (Abadi et al., 2021). Children with ASD face unique challenges across a variety of domains (e.g., social communication, motor coordination) that may contribute to low levels of engagement in group physical fitness routines. Additionally, children and adolescents with ASD are more than twice as likely to be obese as individuals without a developmental disability. Previous researchers have shown that a group contingency (i.e., the Good Behavior Game; GBG) can increase motor activity of typically developing children during unstructured play (Galbraith et al., 2017). In this study, we evaluated the feasibility and effectiveness of the GBG to increase engagement in a physical fitness routine of elementary aged children diagnosed with ASD attending an autism-specialty summer camp. The camp curriculum included a daily 60-min physical education activity led by a certified physical education instructor. Engagement in the various activities was low during baseline. Implementation of the GBG resulted in an increase in engagement across both classes. Results suggest GBG is a promising, low-cost approach to increase engagement with physical education activities for children diagnosed with ASD.