Daily Physical Activity Levels of Young Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder Who Are Low-Expressive

To investigate physical activity levels of young adults with ASD-LE. Participants were12 young adults without physical impairments: 6 (5M 1F, Age 18.8 + or - 1.7 yrs, Ht. 70.8 + or - 2.1 in, Wt. 187.0 + or - 33.8 lbs) with ASD-LE and 6 matched peers without disability (5M 1F, Age 19.7 + or - .5 yrs, Ht. 70.4 + or - 2.6 in, Wt. 169 + or - 23.7 lbs). There were no significant differences between matching variables (Age, Ht. & Wt.). Participants with ASDLE were selected if they met two criteria on the Childhood Autism Rating Scale: 1) rating of "severely autistic" and 2) at least 3 out of 4 on Verbal Sub-Scale, which indicates a severe verbal disorder. Participants wore an omnidirectional accelerometer on the wrist for 6 continuous days. Individuals with ASD-LE had significantly lower minutes of MPA per day (78 mins) that their peers without disability (153 mins) (t=3.4,df 7.6, p=.01). However, both groups were above the daily amount of MPA for health benefits.