The Effect Of Water Play On Autistic Children

Autism is a type of neurodevelopmental disease in children. Children with autism disorder may exhibit additional maladaptive behaviors such as self-harm, severe mood swings, stereotyped behaviors, and aggression. Different treatment approaches have been formulated by therapists and researchers, one of the newest of which is water therapy. Still, due to the different target populations of children that have been investigated in the research, researchers are looking to investigate the effects of playing and physical activity in water on autistic children because the nature of children is related to play. The upcoming research is a systematic and analyzed review of the articles available in domestic and foreign search engines, which are collected with keywords related to the title and discussed and analyzed according to their conceptual and semantic proximity to the title. The mechanism of action of water is for comprehensive treatment, in such a way that it causes the effects of the attention frame on the automatic nervous system, increasing blood flow and relaxing the muscles. Playing in water reduces aggression, reduces stereotyped movements, improves interaction with the environment, and stimulates the sensory and emotional system in children with autism spectrum disorder. Therefore, it is suggested that due to the attractiveness of topics such as games and group games for children, more attention should be paid to the discussion of play therapy in autistic children.

کلیدواژه ها:

autism children ، water therapy ، water play ، physical activity