Amber Schmitt

Date Approved

2018

Degree Type

Open Access Senior Honors Thesis

Department or School

Psychology

First Advisor

Jin Bo

Second Advisor

Hedeel Evans

Third Advisor

Marianne Laporte

Abstract

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD} is a neurodevelopmental disorder that is typically diagnosed in childhood due to the presence of atypical development, social interactions, and repetitive stereotypical patterns of behavior. The purpose of the present study was to examine the effects of a yoga intervention on a ten-year-old male diagnosed with ASD. It was hypothesized that the yoga intervention on select instructed poses would increase both pose duration and pose performance and that the results would generalize to longer pose duration and better pose performance on non-instructed poses. Pre-intervention assessments of motor functioning were administered, including the Movement ABC, BOT-2, TGMD, and video coding of yoga-related performance. Baseline and intervention sessions included 10 beginner yoga poses. Pose duration in instructed and non-instructed poses was significantly and positively affected. Instructed poses showed a positive increase in pose performance, but the results did not generalize to non-instructed pose performance.

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