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Let’s Get Some Physical Activity

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Everyone needs some physical activity, but people on the spectrum typically get less activity than those not diagnosed with ASD. Why? There are multiple reasons, but as it turns out it can’t all be blamed on the obvious culprit of increased screen time or video game use. Those can be reasons why teenagers get less activity, but not specifically those with ASD. Does physical activity help with ASD symptoms and features? Maybe a little. Different types of physical activity are discussed on this week’s ASF podcast.

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Guys, we all need exercise

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People with autism are less likely to be physically active and more likely to be sedentary.    A number of studies have looked into different physical activities, both group based and individually, on improvements in health as well as core features of autism, and most have had positive results.  New animal model research demonstrates a benefit of exercise using the maternal immune activation model of ASD, pruning back the excess of connections and cell fibers.  As people with autism also have too many connections in the brain, this may have a direct therapeutic benefit.  But besides all the scientific conjecture, we all need more exercise, physical activity interventions seem to only help, not hurt, people across the spectrum, and should be used to complement, not replace existing therapies.

 

 

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29693781

 

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31102193

 

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs10803-019-04050-9

 

https://www.cell.com/cell-reports/retrieve/pii/S2211124719306266?_returnURL=https%3A%2F%2Flinkinghub.elsevier.com%2Fretrieve%2Fpii%2FS2211124719306266%3Fshowall%3Dtrue