Autism - How does Karate help?

Mats Sommervold on unsplash

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) can manifest in communication issues, behavioural problems, difficulties with social norms along with many others.

Working as a sports lecturer I have witnessed many cases of students with ASD that struggle in the classroom, but get them in the gym or sports hall and they thrive. They are focussed, they work well and they listen! So, I wondered whether Karate with its fairly ordered regimen, hierarchy and discipline could be a useful tool for someone with ASD.

Bahrami et al. (2016) found that kids subjected to 14 weeks of Karate training compared to a control group found that communication deficit was reduced through Karate training. This is also supported by another study (Gianpiero Greco et al., 2020) that conducted a 12 week kata based intervention twice a week and noted improvements in communication, engagement and cooperation. Similar results were found in an 8 week Judo programme (Rivera et al., 2020) and it is suggested that the benefits of physical activity coupled with mind-body exercises are of great help to those with ASD and of course Martial Arts is often a blend of activity and mind-body practices.

However, the strongest evidence of all comes from a Systematic Review (a gold standard of high quality research for the layman) conducted relatively recently. Amonkar et al. (2021), concluded

"A review of 72 studies (N = 1,939 participants) across participants with ASD ranging

from 3 to 65 years of age suggests that at present there is consistent evidence from

high quality studies for small-to-large sized improvements in social communication skills following music and martial arts therapies and medium-to-large improvements in motor and cognitive skills following yoga and martial arts training." (p.1)

Stereotyped behaviours include the involuntary movements and verbalisations. 10 weeks of Karate training showed significant improvement in these behaviours (Adibsaber et al., 2020) as did a 14 week Kata training intervention from Bahrami et al. (2012).

Finally, a Meta-Analysis of 16 studies on social interaction skills and various physical activities demonstrated Karate to have the highest effect size, (amount of improvement) while a combined sport programme showed the least effect size. (Hou et al., 2024)

Being balanced here, it is fair to say that many physical activities show positive effects with ASD and none seem to have any negative effects. Get your kid doing something structured and physical and it helps their development. Having said that, Martial Arts and especially Karate have shown greater benefits in some studies and I believe that with some relation to my previous blog on self discipline, coupled with the ordered regimen of mind-body exercise is why martial arts is particularly beneficial. 

References

AdibSaber, F., Khanzadeh, A., Kolachahi, S., Shojaei, M., & Daneshfar, A. (2020). The Effectiveness of Karate Techniques Training on Balance and Stereotyped Behaviors of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder. , 10, 55-78. https://doi.org/10.22054/jpe.2021.50729.2127.

Amonkar N, Su W-C, Bhat AN and Srinivasan SM (2021) Effects of Creative Movement Therapies on Social Communication, Behavioral-Affective, Sensorimotor, Cognitive, and Functional Participation Skills of Individuals With Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Systematic Review. Front. Psychiatry 12:722874. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2021.722874

Bahrami, F., Movahedi, A., Marandi, S.M. et al. (2016) The Effect of Karate Techniques Training on Communication Deficit of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders. J Autism Dev Disord 46, 978–986. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-015-2643-y

Bahrami, F., Movahedi, A., Marandi, S., & Abedi, A. (2012). Kata techniques training consistently decreases stereotypy in children with autism spectrum disorder.. Research in developmental disabilities, 33 4, 1183-93 . https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ridd.2012.01.018.

Greco, G., & De Ronzi, R. (2020). Effect of Karate training on social, emotional, and executive functioning in children with autism spectrum disorder. . Journal of Physical Education and Sport, Vol. 20, No. 4, 1637-1645 DOI: 10.7752/jpes.2020.04223

Hou, Y., Song, Z., Deng, J., & Song, X. (2024). The impact of exercise intervention on social interaction in children with autism: a network meta-analysis. Frontiers in Public Health, 12. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2024.1399642.

Rivera, P., Renziehausen, J. & Garcia, J.M. (2020) Effects of an 8-Week Judo Program on Behaviors in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Mixed-Methods Approach. Child Psychiatry Hum Dev 51, 734–741. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10578-020-00994-7