Introduction: Autism is one of the structural disorders of brain which is accompanied by deficiency in motor skills and verbal communications. The present study was conducted aiming at investigating the effect of social story telling on the development of motor skills and verbal communications among the children and adolescents suffering the autism. Methods: This study was semi-experimental of pretest- posttest type with control group. Statistical population of this study included all children with autism from 5 to 17 years old in Sirjan City in March 2017- March 2018 from among whom, 16 persons were selected by accessible random sampling method based on the conditions for entering the study, then they were divided randomly into two experimental and control groups. Experimental group was involved with the social stories intervention for children and adolescents through researcher direct training for 12 weeks and 2 sessions a week and control group received no intervention. Research tools were GARS autism rating scale, Vineland social maturity scale and social stories. Results obtained from pretest and posttest stages were analyzed by statistical test of covariance and the significance level was considered at p< 0.05. Results: Finding showed that the social skills training increases significantly the motor skills and verbal communications among the children and adolescents with severe autism spectrum disorder at level of p < 0.001 compared to the control group. Conclusion: Social skills training to autistic children is likely to improve the motor skills and verbal communications among them through strengthening the sensorimotor integration, creativity and motivation for progress and reducing the anxiety. تفاصيل المقالة

Introduction: Autism is one of the developmental disorders of the central nervous system followed by several sensory motor problems. The present study aims to investigate the effect of sensory integration therapy on the physical and motor activities of children with autism. Methods: This descriptive study was carried out with 20 students selected in the first, second and third grades aiming to diagnose autism disorder in the academic year 2017 in Shiraz. Data collection was performed using the “physical activity of Iranian students” questionnaire in the form of teacher and parent observation record registration at three levels (daily activity, organization and motor ability). The level of motor skills was determined using the gross motor development test (basic, equilibrium, and kinetic skills) prepared by Khalaji and Khajavi (motor development professors). The presented study employed sensory integration approaches by modulating individual and group treatments in these children (sensory diet and creating the sensory atmosphere) in 12 sessions for 60 minutes. The results of the pre- test and post-test data were analyzed through performance analysis based on non-parametric data via Wilcoxon test (p≤0.05). Results: Our finding showed that there is a significant difference between the viewpoints of parents and teachers regarding the level of activities before and after intervention (p<0.05). So, sensory coherence increases the level of daily activities of children with autism disorder. Moreover, there is a significant difference between the viewpoints of parents and teachers regarding motor skills before and after intervention (p<0.05). Conclusion: the results of the current study showed that the use of sensory integration therapy improves daily, organized and motor activity, as well as the basic and balance skills of children with autism and may require longer courses of treatment to improve kinetic skills. تفاصيل المقالة