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Exercise Interventions for Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder

Sponsor: National Taiwan University Hospital • ClinicalTrials.gov ID: NCT07789457

Registry updated: 2026-08-27

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Description

The purpose of this clinical trial is to find out whether exergame and aerobic exercise can improve sleep, movement skills, thinking abilities, and brain activity in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). This study aims to answer the following questions: 1. Can exergame and aerobic exercise improve sleep, movement skills, and thinking abilities in children with ASD? 2. Can exergame and aerobic exercise change brain activity in children with ASD? Researchers will compare three different intervention programs: 1. Exergame combined with motor and behavioral intervention. 2. Aerobic exercise combined with motor and behavioral intervention. 3. Motor and behavioral intervention only. By comparing these three groups, researchers hope to determine whether adding exergames or aerobic exercise provides additional benefits for children with ASD. Participants will: 1. Attend one intervention session each week for 8 weeks. Depending on the group they are assigned to, they will receive either exergames combined with motor and behavioral intervention, aerobic exercise combined with motor and behavioral intervention, or motor and behavioral intervention only. 2. Complete a home exercise program twice a week for 12 weeks. 3. Visit the laboratory three times for assessments: before the intervention begins, at the end of Week 8, and at the end of Week 12.

Interventions

Exergaming (Procedure)
Exergaming is defined as a type of active video game (or non-immersive virtual reality) that requires players to engage in full-body movements, involving moderate-to-vigorous physical activity.
Aerobic exercise (Procedure)
Aerobic exercise (AE) will apply interval-based training model, which serve as a feasible form of AE with intermittent, high-intensity, short-duration characteristics, and alternates between periods of activity and rest.
Conventional physical therapy (Procedure)
Conventional physical therapy focusing on fundamental motor skills including locomotion and ball skills.
Behavioral Education (Behavioral)
Behavioral education focusing on sleep hygiene and behavioral strategies (e.g., extinction, reinforcement, developing appropriate bedtime and consistent bedtime routine) to facilitate specific strategies for enhancing child's sleep qualities

Eligibility criteria

Inclusion Criteria: * Aged 4-10 year (48-131 months). * Have a clinical diagnosis of ASD. * Able to follow two-step order. * With sleep disturbances for more than 3 days per week in past 3 months reported by child's caregiver. * The primary caregiver must be aged 20 years or older and capable of reading and writing in Chinese. Exclusion Criteria: * Having physical disabilities or congenital anomalies of extremities. * Loss of vision or hearing function. * The child has been diagnosed with genetic disorders (e.g., Down syndrome or Fragile X syndrome).

Conditions

Autism Spectrum Disorder

Locations

Early Childhood Behavior Laboratory, School and Graduate Institute of Physical Therapy, National Taiwan University, — Taipei, Taiwan

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Official Source

Data sourced from ClinicalTrials.gov, a service of the U.S. National Institutes of Health.

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