Occupational Therapy Program for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder to Improve Trousers-wearing Motion in the Standing Position

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether play-based occupational therapy improves the motions of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), who have difficulty putting on trousers in a standing position. The participants included 25 children comprising 16 boys and 9 girls (age range: 5 years and 3 months to 8 years and 2 months; IQ: 82–117) who were diagnosed with ASD (including pervasive developmental disorders and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder). The intervention was conducted one-on-one between the therapist and the participant for 60 minutes. The participants performed a one-legged stand and trousers-wearing motions before and after the intervention. The analysis parameters for the task were foot pressure and center of pressure (COP) and motion analysis using video data. Each parameter of the one-legged stand showed no intervention effect. In contrast, the maximum excursion and total trajectory of COP in the anterior–posterior direction of the first support leg decreased significantly after the intervention compared to that before the intervention (p=0.049, 0.018). After the intervention, the trouser-wearing motion improved by three points. The participants found it easier to maintain a forward bend of the trunk while standing on one leg. Further, the foot of the first swing leg no longer got caught in the hem of the trousers. In addition, the participants improved their grasp of the waist edge of the trousers during the trouser-wearing motion. These findings suggest that the trousers-wearing motion produced a task-specific effect.