The Effectiveness of a Yoga Based Program on Decreasing Maladaptive Behaviors in School Aged Children with ASD

Background:

The need for scientifically based educational interventions, whenever practical, is outlined in the re-authorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Educational Improvement Act (2004). Often, multiple interventions are used with children with ASD, making it exceedingly difficult to assess the efficacy of a new intervention utilized in a classroom.   Promising interventions are often not available to students from disadvantaged backgrounds, unless they are delivered in public school settings.  Occupational therapists utilize school-based yoga programs, but these interventions typically lack manualization and evidence from well designed studies.

Objectives:

The purpose of this research is to examine the effect of the “Get Ready to Learn” (GRTL) program for children with ASD on decreasing maladaptive behaviors that may interfere with classroom performance and increasing adaptive classroom behaviors. Specifically it is hypothesized that  children who participate in the GRTL program will show a decrease in interfering behaviors, as measured by the Aberrant Behavior Checklist (ABC), compared to the control group. 

Methods:

An experimental pre-test post-test control group design examined the effectiveness of the GRTL classroom yoga program in a culturally diverse sample of children with ASD at a large urban public school that serves low income students.   The intervention group (n = 24) received the manualized yoga program daily for 16 weeks, while controls (n = 22) engaged in their standard morning routine. Challenging behaviors were assessed with standardized measures pre and post intervention. An analysis of variance was completed between groups to assess differences in gain scores on the dependent variables.

Results:

At baseline, groups were comparable as there were no significant differences in age, sex, ethnicity and Vineland Adaptive Behavior scores.  Pretest measures of maladaptive behavior on the ABC showed no significant differences between groups.  Students who participated in the GRTL program showed significant (F = 5.079, p = .029) differences on their total ABC score as compared to students in the control condition. We found a moderate effect (F = 5.079, p = .029, Cohen’s d = 1.19) for the total behavior scores on the teacher ratings of the ABC and small effect for Subscale I: Irritability, Agitation, and Crying (F= 3.89, p = .05, Cohen’s d = .59).   Subscale II-Lethargy, Social Withdrawal (F = 3.064, p = .087,Cohen’s d = .53) and Subscale IV-Hyperactivity, Noncompliance (F = .3.34, p = .074, Cohen’s d = .55) approached significance.  The students’ in the control group did not display any significant reductions of maladaptive behavior as measured by the ABC and actually had scores that had a tendency to either  stay the same or increase, which is indicative of more negative behavior, with the exception of Subscale II-Lethargy, Social Withdrawal.

 Conclusions:

Students that received a daily 16 week manualized yoga intervention showed a reduction in behaviors that were identified as maladaptive by teachers, including irritability, lethargy, social withdrawal, hyperactivity and non-compliance, compared to students who engaged in their standard morning routine.   Evidenced-based yoga programs may be a viable option for improving behavior in public school classrooms.