Community Practice Professional Article Summary

Community Practice Professional Article: Adapted Martial Arts For Autism

By

Rebekah Buchanan, Jennifer Cook, Susan Johnson, Carson Oldman, Tony Page, Tiffany Wood

I. Introduction

On July 29, 2017 an adapted martial arts camp took place for children who have been diagnosed with autism. The camp was at The Black Belt Academy of Poplar Bluff, MO from 3-6 PM. The purpose of the project was to explore the possibility of how martial arts could be adapted to promote occupational goals for children who have been diagnosed with autism. Occupational therapy assistant students from Three Rivers College served as coaches during the camp. They also helped to focus the camp curriculum to address common deficits associated with autism, including balance,

All the parents surveyed expressed an interest in having more classes and camps that were adapted for the children. Most said that they had trouble finding group activities that their child can participate in, and that their children typically did not participate in group activities such as these for the most part because of behavioral issues associated with their diagnosis. Some parents were overwhelmed by the high level of participation their child exhibited. One child was described as having a high level of tactile defensiveness, and yet within 10 minutes of the class beginning he was hugging occupational therapy assistant students and holding their hands. His parents were amazed, even a bit shocked. Another child's mother broke down in tears because her son had never participated in any kind of activity for more than a few minutes, and yet he stayed for the entire three hours. She was also excited about the possibilities of introducing an activity to her son that he was enthusiastic about participating

Every parent who answered the questions said they would be interested in their children participating in more adapted camps in the future. This is an encouraging result, since the long term goal of the adapted martial arts camp is to explore how martial arts techniques and training could be adapted to promote occupational therapy goals for children who have been diagnosed with autism, and discover ways to relate martial arts to therapeutic interventions. There is potential here to develop a certification program for licensed occupational therapy practitioners to learn and implement adapted martial arts training techniques for their clients. In doing so, occupational therapy practitioners would have the opportunity to become certified in basic martial arts training techniques and relate those to occupational therapy