The Effect of Kephart's Visual-Motor Perception Skills Training on Reducing the Stereotypic Behaviors in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (Single Case Study)

Background and Purpose: Among the new therapeutic methods that have attracted the attention of autistic therapists are the interventions related to motor and physical activities. This study was conducted to investigate the effect of Kephart's visual-motor skills on reducing the stereotypic behaviors of children with autism spectrum disorders. The present study was a single-case study. The study sample consisted of three 5-14-year-old children with autism spectrum disorder living in Tehran during 2017-2018, selected through convenience sampling. They underwent an intervention of 10 sessions of 45 minutes.
Initially, stereotypic behaviors were observed at the baseline and recorded by interval recording. After that, Kephart's visual-motor perception intervention programs were presented, and then again the occurrence of stereotypic behaviors was immediately observed and recorded by interval recording in two stages. The results of in-situ and inter-situ visual analysis of the subjects' data showed that the mean score of stereotypic behaviors for all three subjects decreased significantly from the baseline (4.8, 10, and 12.8) to the intervention phase (2.2, 4.2, and 3.4). Also, PND showed that the overlap of baseline and intervention points was effective with 100 percent confidence. Results indicate that the perceptual motor activities based on Kephart approach, can be used as one of the methods to decrease the stereotypic behaviors in children with autism.