Dance, Autism, and Communication: Exploring the Feasibility of a Dance-Based Exergame within the Home and School Environments to Enhance Autistic Children’s Social Communication Skills

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a common neurodevelopmental condition, typically characterised by challenges in social communication and restricted or repetitive patterns of behaviours and interests. Autistic individuals are observed to also display a variety of differences and strengths in cognitive functioning, motor skills, and sensory processing, uniquely impacting individuals. Despite its heterogeneity, enhancing social communication skills and supporting physical well-being are two of the autistic community’s top research priorities. Therefore, the present thesis explores communication challenges observed within autism and the use of physical activity and dance movement therapy (DMT) to enhance autistic children’s social communication skills. Two systematic reviews were conducted. The first suggested the beneficial use of two fundamental DMT techniques, mirroring and rhythm, for enhancing autistic children’s social communication skills. The second highlighted the beneficial effects of exergaming for the autistic population. A subsequent study then investigated common styles of rhythm and music used by dance movement therapists in their sessions with autistic children, suggesting music and rhythms with a 4/4 time signature, moderato tempo, and age-appropriate lyrics were most popular. A mixed-methods approach was later employed to examine the feasibility and potential effectiveness of a dance-based exergame in the home and school environments to enhance autistic children’s social communication skills. Results suggest that the exergame can be implemented by parents and teachers in their respective environments, affords children ownership of their intervention, and is an enjoyable activity. Furthermore, limited-efficacy testing inferred the beneficial effects of the dance-based exergame, enhancing autistic children’s social communication skills. This work advocates that the chosen exergame is an engaging physical activity, which addresses some of the current limitations of traditional interventions for supporting autistic children’s social communication skills. Overall, the findings presented are promising and suggest additional research within this area will prove worthwhile and meaningful for the autistic population.