Summary: A systematic analysis shows that organized sports interventions significantly enhance motor skills in children with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Analyzing 11 clinical trials, researchers found that martial arts (such as Tai Chi Chuan) and aquatic training yielded the largest, most consistent improvements in balance, total motor scores, and object control.
Gymnastics, trampoline, table tennis, and Australian football also provided targeted benefits in bilateral coordination and locomotion, highlighting balance as the most responsive motor domain across all sports categories.
Key Facts
- High Motor Impairment Prevalence: Over 50 percent of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder experience co-occurring motor impairments, affecting gait, postural stability, and fine/gross coordination.
- Martial Arts Dominance: Martial arts programs, specifically Tai Chi Chuan and kata, demonstrated consistently large effect sizes across balance metrics, overall motor scores, and object control.
- Aquatic Training Efficacy: Hydrotherapy and organized swimming programs produced large, uniform improvements across balance, locomotion, and object manipulation.
- Balance as Primary Outcome: Balance was identified as the most universally improved motor domain across every sports category analyzed in the clinical trials.
- Sport-Specific Benefits: Gymnastics and trampoline training yielded targeted gains in bilateral coordination; table tennis drove generalized gross motor improvements; and Australian football significantly boosted object control.
- Call for Methodological Rigor: The authors emphasize that while current clinical trial data is highly promising, future research requires larger sample sizes and randomized controlled designs to establish standardized clinical guidelines.
Source: Wiley
Research suggests that more than half of children with autism spectrum disorder, a neurodevelopmental condition, experience motor impairments.
An analysis in Developmental Medicine & Child Neurology indicates that sports-based interventions may improve motor skills in children with autism spectrum disorder, with martial arts and aquatic training demonstrating the most consistent benefits.
The analysis was based on data from 11 clinical trials of various sports. Martial arts demonstrated consistently large improvements in balance, total motor skills, and object control skills, with especially strong effects in Tai Chi Chuan and kata programs. Aquatic training demonstrated large improvements across balance, locomotor skills, and object control skills.
Gymnastics and trampoline interventions demonstrated large improvements in balance and bilateral coordination, with additional effects on total motor scores in trampoline studies. Table tennis produced broad gross motor improvements, and Australian football had a large effect on object control skills and had a medium effect on balance and total motor skills.
Across all sports categories, balance was the most consistently improved motor domain.
The authors noted that many of the studies had significant limitations, however, and higher-quality studies are needed.
“Organized sports-based interventions may offer benefits beyond recreation for children with autism by supporting motor skill development,” said corresponding author Sonia Khurana, PT, PhD, of Old Dominion University.
“While our review identified promising effects, particularly for martial arts and aquatic training, larger and more rigorous studies are needed to confirm these benefits and guide evidence-based recommendations.”
Key Questions Answered:
A: Martial arts like Tai Chi and kata rely on slow, highly repetitive, and deliberate movement patterns that reinforce postural control and spatial awareness. Aquatic environments provide continuous hydrodynamic resistance and supportive buoyancy, which enhances proprioceptive feedback and reduces gravitational strain on developing motor circuits.
A: Balance was the most consistently improved motor domain across all 11 clinical trials and every sports discipline evaluated in the study.
A: No. While organized sports offer significant therapeutic gains for motor skill development, the authors note that these programs serve as valuable, evidence-based adjuncts to clinical interventions rather than direct replacements for individualized physical or occupational therapy.
Editorial Notes:
- This article was edited by a Neuroscience News editor.
- Journal paper reviewed in full.
- Additional context added by our staff.
About this autism and motor skills research news
Author: Sara Henning-Stout
Source: Wiley
Contact: Sara Henning-Stout – Wiley
Image: The image is credited to Neuroscience News
Original Research: Open access.
“Organized sports-based interventions and motor outcomes in children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder: A systematic review” by Kailash Ram, Maeren Hill, Caitlyn Stewart, Kaitlin Hardy, Sonia Khurana. Developmental Medicine & Child Neurology
DOI:10.1111/dmcn.70385
Abstract
Organized sports-based interventions and motor outcomes in children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder: A systematic review
Aim
To evaluate the effectiveness of organized sports-based interventions on motor outcomes in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD).
Method
Four databases were searched from inception to November 2025 for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and non-randomized controlled trials (NRCTs) reporting motor outcomes of organized sports-based interventions in children with ASD. Risk of bias was evaluated using ROB-2 (Cochrane Risk of Bias Tool, Version Two) for RCTs and ROBINS-I (Risk Of Bias In Non-randomized Studies – of Interventions) for NRCTs.
Results
Eleven studies (six RCTs, five NRCTs) were included and categorized as martial arts (n = 5), aquatic training (n = 2), gymnastics and trampoline (n = 3), and other sports (n = 2); one study was included under both martial arts and aquatic categories. Interventions most consistently improved balance (d = 0.18–4.99), locomotor skills (d = 0.63–2.02), total motor scores (d = 0.61–3.90), and object control skills (d = 1.10–3.83), with effects predominantly moderate to large across martial arts and aquatic training. Risk of bias was high in five RCTs and of some concern in one; among NRCTs, four were serious risk and one critical risk.
Interpretation
Organized sports-based interventions may improve gross motor skills in children with ASD, with martial arts and aquatic training demonstrating the most consistent benefits; however, overall certainty of evidence is limited, and higher-quality studies are needed.
