Organized Sports-Based Interventions and Motor Outcomes in Children Diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Systematic Review

Authors

• Kailash Ram, Macon & Joan Brock Virginia Health Sciences at Old Dominion UniversityFollow
• Maeren Hill, Macon & Joan Brock Virginia Health Sciences at Old Dominion UniversityFollow
• Caitlyn Stewart, Macon & Joan Brock Virginia Health Sciences at Old Dominion UniversityFollow
• Kaitlin P. Hardy MD, Old Dominion UniversityFollow
• Sonia Khurana, Macon & Joan Brock Virginia Health Sciences at Old Dominion UniversityFollow

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2026

DOI

10.1111/dmcn.70385

Publication Title

Developmental Medicine & Child Neurology

Volume

Advance online publication

Pages

15 pp.

Abstract

Aim

To evaluate the effectiveness of organized sports-based interventions on motor outcomes in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD).

Method

Four databases were searched from inception to November 2025 for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and non-randomized controlled trials (NRCTs) reporting motor outcomes of organized sports-based interventions in children with ASD. Risk of bias was evaluated using ROB-2 (Cochrane Risk of Bias Tool, Version Two) for RCTs and ROBINS-I (Risk Of Bias In Non-randomized Studies - of Interventions) for NRCTs.

Results

Eleven studies (six RCTs, five NRCTs) were included and categorized as martial arts (n = 5), aquatic training (n = 2), gymnastics and trampoline (n = 3), and other sports (n = 2); one study was included under both martial arts and aquatic categories. Interventions most consistently improved balance (d = 0.18-4.99), locomotor skills (d = 0.63-2.02), total motor scores (d = 0.61-3.90), and object control skills (d = 1.10-3.83), with effects predominantly moderate to large across martial arts and aquatic training. Risk of bias was high in five RCTs and of some concern in one; among NRCTs, four were serious risk and one critical risk.

Interpretation

Organized sports-based interventions may improve gross motor skills in children with ASD, with martial arts and aquatic training demonstrating the most consistent benefits; however, overall certainty of evidence is limited, and higher-quality studies are needed.

Rights

© 2026 The Authors

This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0) License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited and is not used for commercial purposes.

Data Availability

Article states: "Data sharing not applicable to this article as no datasets were generated or analysed during the current study."

ORCID

0009-0006-7998-7064 (Ram), 0009-0000-3441-8171 (Hardy), 0000-0003-3993-3580 (Khurana)

Original Publication Citation

Ram, K., Hill, M., Stewart, C., Hardy, K., & Khurana, S. (2026). Organized sports-based interventions and motor outcomes in children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder: A systematic review. Developmental Medicine & Child Neurology. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1111/dmcn.70385 

Repository Citation

Ram, Kailash; Hill, Maeren; Stewart, Caitlyn; Hardy, Kaitlin P. MD; and Khurana, Sonia, "Organized Sports-Based Interventions and Motor Outcomes in Children Diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Systematic Review" (2026). Rehabilitation Sciences Faculty Publications. 182.
https://digitalcommons.odu.edu/pt_pubs/182