Review of Studies on Physical Activities of Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD)

The aim of this study is to review thesis and articles on physical activities of individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) published between 2004 and 2014 in Turkey and in the world. Council of Higher Education (YÖK) National Thesis Center, The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey National Academic Network and Information Center (TÜBİTAK ULAKBİM), EbscoHost, Proquest Dissertations and Theses Global, SAGE and SpringerLink databases were searched for this study and 16 thesis and 33 articles published in peer-reviewed journals were reached about the subject. Obtained studies were reviewed in four categories. There were six studies in “Comparison of physical activities of individuals with ASD” category, 26 studies in “Impact of physical activity program on individuals with ASD” category, six studies in “Opinions of families and teachers about physical activity” category, and 11 studies in “Identification and improvement of quality of physical activity programs” category. Results yielded that physical activity makes positive contributions to the development of individuals with ASD, studies conducted in our country focus on the impact of physical activity, and there is a need for studies on topics including nature of the physical activity programs and comparison of physical activity levels with individuals with different disability categories.