The Effect of Square Stepping Exercise on Working Memory and Balance of Children with Autism

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the effect of the Square Stepping Exercise on working memory and balance of children with autism. The research method was quasi-experimental with pre-test and post-test design with a control group. The statistical population included all children aged 6 to 12 with mild autism in Urmia city, 30 of them were randomly selected and tested in two groups of 15 (average age: 12.8±1.56) and control (mean age: 7.78 ± 1.58). Stork test is used to measure static balance, the heel-to-toe walking test to measure dynamic balance, and the parent executive functions questionnaire of Balster et al. (2000) in pre-test and post-test similarly. The experimental group performed square stepping exercises for 12 weeks, three sessions a week, and each session lasted 70 minutes. The data were analyzed through a one-way analysis of covariance in SPSS software version 24. The results showed that by controlling the pre-test score, there is a significant difference between the scores of the static and dynamic balance test and working memory of the two experimental and control groups in the post-test (p=0.001). Therefore, performing these exercises can be an effective strategy for improving balance and working memory in children with mild autism.