The Impact of Aquatic Exercise on Sleep Behaviors in Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder

The purpose of this pilot study was to determine if participation in an aquatic exercise program improves sleep in children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Participants included 8 children. An A-B-A withdrawal design was utilized. Each phase lasted for 4 weeks. The treatment included 60 min of aquatic exercise 2X/week. Phone calls to parents of the participants were made throughout the duration of the study. Parents were asked questions related to sleep latency, nighttime wakenings, and sleep duration. A one way repeated-measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) was utilized to determine if differences existed between phases. Statistically significant difference existed for sleep latency ( p < .001) and sleep duration ( p < .001). These results suggest that participation in aquatic exercise may improve the sleep habits of children with ASD.