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A physical recreation program to develop motor skills in people with intellectual disability

Abstract:

Introduction: Being as it is a pleasant activity generating immediate satisfaction, physical recreation is often an effective social intervention strategy benefiting all social strata, including people with intellectual disability. Objective: Design a program of physical recreation activities adapted to the Ecuadorian context aimed at developing a number of motor skills in subjects with intellectual disability. Methods: A study was conducted with 10 subjects with mild and moderate intellectual disability aged 14-25 years. The Movement Assessment Battery for Children test was applied to these subjects before and after implementation of the proposal of physical recreation activities during two months. The activities corresponded to six recreation modes adapted to the Ecuadorian context. Results: Implementation of the proposal revealed a mean 37 % comprehensive improvement in the eight tasks included in the Movement Assessment Battery for Children test. Most of them exhibited significantly different values when comparing initial and final test results based on the Wilcoxon signed-rank test. Conclusions: Several motor skills were developed in people with intellectual disability upon implementation of the proposal of physical recreation activities.