Effectiveness of Cutting Activity on Precision And Prehension Skills In Children With Autism
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Abstract
The purpose of the study was to investigate the effectiveness of cutting activity on enhancement of precision and prehension skills in children with autism. Study design: Experimental design.
Participants:30 subjects were selected of age range between 5 to 8 years with mild autism.
Methods:Participants were assessed 1 week prior to the intervention on Children’s Cutting Skills Observation Sheet Instrument. Subjects were 3divided equally into Group A (Experimental group) and Group B (Control group). The intervention protocol was of 8 weeks having 2 session of treatment per week. Group A received 30 minutes of conventional occupational therapy followed by the 15 minutes session of paper cutting treatment. Each paper cutting activity was of 3 minutes. Total duration of the session received by Group A is of 45 minutes. Group B received 45 minutes of conventional occupational therapy.Post assessment was done after 1 week of the intervention protocol. Then data was analysed statistically.
Result:For both the control and experimental groups, the p-values exceed the 0.05 level of significance (p > 0.05). This indicates that the null hypothesis cannot be rejected; the mean values in the experimental group showed more substantial improvements in precision and prehension skills compared to the control group. This suggests that structured cutting activities can positively impact the development of these skills in children with autism.
Conclusion:Post-assessment mean values for the experimental group were significantly higher, indicating substantial progress in their cutting skills, though the p-value indicated the changes were not statistically significant.Therefore, integrating pattern cutting exercises into therapeutic programs could be beneficial for enhancing motor skills, eye and hand coordination skills in children with autism. And as the sooner the child is introduced to the cutting activities or scissors use hence it stimulating their development as this impacts their performance in the school as they grow up.
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