The Effects of Developmentally Aligned Kicking Instruction for Young Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder
A tiny BST kick routine gives autistic kids a solid soccer foot in under two weeks.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Five 7- to young learners boys with autism joined a short kicking program.
The coach showed the kick, let each child copy, then gave praise and tips.
Sessions ran 10-15 minutes, twice a week, until the child hit the target four times in a row.
What they found
Every boy kicked the ball closer to the goal after only four to six lessons.
Three weeks later they still scored well, even without extra practice.
How this fits with other research
Tucker et al. (2021) used the same model-practice-feedback style to teach pool safety skills.
Wang et al. (2023) looked at 16 longer sports studies and saw bigger social gains over the study period.
That seems to clash with Park’s quick win, but Shimeng counted social changes, not just motor skill.
So short BST works for one clear action; longer play is still best for broad social goals.
Why it matters
You can add a five-minute kick station to recess and see fast motor progress.
Keep the drill short, fun, and praise every good try.
If you also want peer play, run the kick game for weeks and fold in partners.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
ABSTRACTKicking is an important fundamental motor skill that is seldom studied. Young children who can kick with competence have opportunities to increase their physical activity and engage in social interactions. We examined the effects of developmentally aligned kicking instruction taught to five children (7–8 years old) with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). A multiple baseline design across participants was used to examine the effects of developmentally aligned kicking instruction. The primary dependent measure was percentage of correct kicking trials and this was supplemented by two outcome measures, (a) the TGMD‐2 kicking subtest score and (b) the kicking developmental sequence, which were measured at pretest, the end of baseline, post‐intervention, and 3 weeks following intervention. All five participants improved their kicking performance, demonstrating that the intervention was an effective strategy for learning kicking skills for children with ASD.
Behavioral Interventions, 2025 · doi:10.1002/bin.70012