METHODS AND INDICATORS FOR EVALUATING THE EFFECTIVENESS OF PHYSICAL THERAPY FOR PRESCHOOL CHILDREN WITH AUTISM
Authors: Basenko L. I. , Tymruk-Skoropad K. A. 
Published: July 2023

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a developmental disorder that affects the way people perceive the world. The learning, thinking, and problem-solving abilities of people with ASD can range from gifted to very challenging. Some people with ASD need a lot of help in their daily lives, while others need less.

Symptoms of ASD range from mild to severe. Children with ASD may have delays in developing basic skills. For example, some children with ASD may be able to talk. Others may communicate in other ways or have trouble relating to other people. People with ASD may also limit their behaviors or have repetitive behavioral patterns. Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) often have delayed motor skills, limited coordination, and poor postural control. They also have to work harder to learn imitation skills. This can make it difficult to develop social skills. The task of a physical therapist is to help children with ASD develop gross motor skills, basic motor skills and improve their quality of life. Intervention programs, including physical therapy, have benefits for children with ASD, but the lack of reliable diagnostic tools makes it difficult to assess children with ASD in the context of their holistic development and provide timely therapy. In order to design an effective rehabilitation program, a physical therapist needs to qualitatively assess physical development using standardized tools, so it is important to understand what assessment tools and indicators a physical therapist can use. Only after assessing and identifying impairments in movement or aspects of motor skills that are delayed in a child's development can a physical therapist set functional goals with the parents (guardians) of a child with ASD to optimize the child's functional mobility in the most effective way.

The aim of the research: to determine which assessment tools and indicators are most commonly used by researchers to evaluate the effectiveness of physical therapy and rehabilitation of children with autism.

Materials and Methods. A search for systematic reviews related to physical therapy, rehabilitation, exercise and physical activity in children with ASD in the Cochrane, PubMed and Pedro libraries over the past 10 years was conducted and 11 of them were selected, which included 225 scientific studies.

Results. The analysis of scientific studies based on 11 systematic reviews ensured the use of high-quality data and the consideration of modern and relevant assessment tools for children with ASD. From the 286 assessment tools and indicators used, six groups of assessment criteria were formed in the following main areas: mental functions (97 assessment tools), motor development (127 tools and indicators), life activities (21 tools), quality of life (12 tools) and assessment of children with ASD (12 tools) and comprehensive assessment (17 tools). We divided motor development into three subgroups, which included questionnaires/observations of motor skills development (23 instruments), clinical tests for assessing motor skills and physical qualities (43 instruments), balance and vestibular function (61 instruments).

Conclusions. In our study, the examination of children with ASD covered several areas that are important and allow a specialist to comprehensively assess the child, but since their large number and their repeatability in studies is insignificant, it is very difficult to choose those that will be effective in the use of a physical therapist.