A first of its kind trial is aiming to recruit children aged between 7 and 12 with a pre-existing formal Autism diagnosis, living in Victoria.
The recruitment drive will help researchers assess whether participation in the community-based dance program, AllPlay Dance, results in significant improvements in motor functioning among autistic children, compared to a treatment-as-usual waitlist control condition, from pre- to post-intervention.
Bringing together industry partners and philanthropists, AllPlay Dance – the Monash University-led initiative – is community-based, and focused on enabling children with developmental conditions to experience dance.
AllPlay Dance was co-created by Professor Nicole Rinehart, a clinical psychologist from the School of Psychological Sciences, and an international leader in neurodevelopmental disorders, and Dr Olivia Millard, senior lecturer in Dance from the School of Communication and Creative Arts at Deakin University.
The unique trial will be conducted at Monash's state-of-the-art Brain Park facility and Deakin University dance studios.
Professor Rinehart said this new approach to improving developmental outcomes for autistic children aims to break the expensive and time-consuming clinical model and create a radically new model of community-based intervention where children can go to an innovative dance program to improve developmental outcomes, make friends, and be part of a community.
"Autistic children have social and communication challenges, but few know that up to 80 per cent of children will also have significant movement problems. Simple things like catching and throwing a ball and balancing that children don't need to think about are barriers to participation for a child with autism," said Professor Rinehart.
"The idea that we can not only improve motor outcomes, but in a context that is relational with friends, has a net benefit of developing a skill and also having the confidence to use it in everyday life."
The trial's secondary aim is to determine whether participation in AllPlay Dance leads to statistically significant changes in cognitive, social, emotional/behavioural, and parental stress outcomes.
Additionally, the research team will assess the acceptability and feasibility of the AllPlay Dance program post-intervention for families and buddies (dance teachers), as well as whether families continue participating in community-based dance programs and how they describe their experiences at follow-up.
Dr Millard said this AllPlay Dance research project will comprise a series of classes for children with autism, supported by their dance 'buddies' who will undertake an internship on the project.
"We will address interlinked aims of measuring the benefits of dance for children with autism; creating capacity in the community for dance teachers to conduct inclusive classes; and continuing to adapt and develop our approach to teaching dance for children with disability. Our research is centred around our commitment to learning from our engagement with the community we serve," Dr Millard said.
Community-based dance programs may offer multiple benefits for Autistic children, including improvements in motor, social and cognitive functioning. Professor Rinehart said rigorous empirical research, particularly randomised controlled trials, is required to evaluate these.
"AllPlay is built on a 10-year funding model involving industry, government and philanthropic partners. We are committed to a sustainable program wrapped in research, that we can move from the clinic to the community," Professor Rinehart said. "The program has been in lock step with the NDIS roll out over the last 10 years to ensure that children with disabilities can 'live an ordinary' life in our community.
"From an economics perspective this is a huge win for everyone – parents don't have to leave work to take their children to appointments, so we are increasing productivity in society, children don't have to leave school, they get to do what every other child does, go to a dance class after school, it is a win win from every angle."
