The Effects of Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation and Selective Motor Training on Gross Motor Skills in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders

The aim of the current study was to examine the effects of anodal transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) and selective motor training on gross motor skills in children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). The method of research is experimental in which a pretest – posttest semi-experimental design with sham group was used. In so doing, a total of eighteen children with autism (age ranged from 6 to14 years) were selected according to available sampling and inclusion criteria and then were randomly divided to experimental and sham group. Participants of the exercise group practiced motor training after receiving tDCS over their primary motor cortex to improve gross motor skills. These participants received anodal tDCS over the left M1 for 20 min for ten sessions (three sessions per week) before the training session. The participants of the sham group underwent identical training sessions, except that tDCS was artificially applied for them. Gross motor skills (aiming and catching) were assessed at baseline (pre-intervention) and after 10 sessions (post- intervention). For analyzing data, two factor Mixed model ANOVA Paired t-test was used. Results showed that the combination of anodal tDCS and motor training have significant effects on improving gross motor skills in children with ASD while mere motor training failed to show improvement in gross motor skill of children with ASD. Our findings suggest that tDCS may be considered as a useful adjunct to gross motor skill training for autistic children.