Accelerating Motor Skill Acquisition for Bicycle Riding in Children with ASD: A Pilot Study

Abstract

Motor impairment is common in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and, as such, a potential target for interventions to improve adaptive functioning. This study investigated motor skill acquisition in children with ASD (n = 15, 12 males; ages 7 -16 years) during iCan Bike Camp, a one-week, community-based intervention (5×75-minute sessions) to teach independent bicycle riding. After completing the camp's task-oriented, individualized training program, all participants demonstrated motor skill acquisition on the bicycle, and nine participants rode independently at least 70 feet. Exploratory analyses showed that motor coordination and social communication correlated with rates of skill acquisition. These findings indicate the feasibility and efficacy of brief, community-based motor interventions to teach bicycle riding-an important developmental skill supporting adaptive functioning-to children with ASD.

Impact of adapted bicycle riding on outcomes for children and adolescents with disabilities: A systematic review

“…Using the ROBINS‐I tool 30 for the four non‐randomized studies, 42,43,47,48 the overall risk of bias was identified as ‘critical’ for one interrupted time series study 42 and ‘serious’ for three studies 43,47,48 (Figure S4). Outcome data were reported for all participants in all four studies 42,43,47,48 . In the two interrupted time series studies, 42,43 determination of ‘serious’ risk of bias was related to lack of blinding of the outcome assessors.…”

“…Five studies reported outcomes at the body structures and functions level, 39,40,42,44,47 including strength, height, weight, body mass index, cardiorespiratory fitness, balance, gait quality, and locomotor endurance. Ten studies reported activity‐level outcomes, 39–48 including gross motor function, physical activity, sit‐to‐stand capacity, learning to ride a standard two‐wheel bicycle, locomotor performance, and peak cycling power output. Two studies reported participation‐related outcomes: 41,47 participation in life activities and mean level of enjoyment.…”

“…After title and abstract screening, 37 full-text articles were assessed for eligibility of which no articles were found in languages other than English. Of these, 10 articles reporting 10 studies were deemed eligible and included in this systematic review: three RCTs; [39][40][41] two interrupted time series; 42,43 three SCEDs; [44][45][46] and two pre/post studies 47,48 (Table 1). Twenty-seven articles were excluded (Table S2).…”

It’s Not Just about Bicycle Riding: Sensory-Motor, Social and Emotional Benefits for Children with and without Developmental Disabilities

“…The sensory-motor outcomes for Study 1 and Study 2 were selected to assess balance, strength, sensory processing, and motor coordination. These postural components were selected based on research that supports the importance of motor skill development as contributing to success in bicycle riding, citing strength, balance, coordination and endurance [ 6 , 16 , 17 ]. These activities were subtests from the Sensory Processing Three Dimensions (SP3D) Measure [ 18 ].…”

Improving Executive Function of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder through Cycling Skill Acquisition

“…More importantly, it is a natural and common physical exercise. It has been proven feasible to teach children with ASD to ride a bicycle, and cycling has been shown to increase children’s physical exercise levels and improve their social behavior (23,24). Importantly, learning to ride a bicycle is physically and cognitively demanding, and it aligns with the cognitive stimulation hypothesis proposed by Best (25) and Pesce (26).…”