Grant: Master's Award: Canada Graduate Scholarships

Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) often have delayed and poor-quality motor skills. Motor skill interventions have been found to improve movement proficiency and allow children to engage more easily in daily life and play; as a result, improvements in behaviour have also been observed. This is important since challenging behaviour has been identified as a primary contributor to parent's mental and emotional wellbeing. Parents of children with ASD consistently report high levels of stress and low levels of family quality of life (FQOL) compared to parents of children with typical development and parents of children with other developmental disabilities. High levels of stress and low levels of FQOL negatively influence health and wellbeing, thus highlighting the need for early ASD interventions which benefit the family unit. The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of an early motor intervention for children with ASD, on the family unit; specifically related to FQOL and stress, from parent's perspectives.Parents of 3-5 year-old children with ASD who are currently enrolled in a 12-week motor intervention, will be invited to participate in a focus group session one week after intervention completion. A semi-structured interviewing technique will be employed to facilitate discussion about the effects of the intervention on the family unit. The results of this study will help to inform the distribution of government funding for ASD interventions among young children. In addition, the results will aid clinicians in prescribing more cost-effective treatment plans by highlighting the importance of movement proficiency as it relates to family health outcomes.