Psychology Commons^™

Effects Of Aquatic Therapy On Vagal Tone And Social Behaviors In Individuals With Autism Spectrum Disorder, Brittany Nichole Bell

CGU Theses & Dissertations

Aquatic therapy has been shown to have behavioral benefits for participants with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) including social and swimming skills. The mechanism through which aquatic therapy has these effects has not been demonstrated. It is noted that several aspects of swimming programs such as deep breathing, physical exercise and cold exposure have been shown to increase vagus nerve activation (Mason et al.,2013; Presmanes et al., 2015; Yuan et al., 2001). Using a quasi-experimental block design, the present study evaluated the effect of aquatic therapy on vagal tone as well as behavior in participants with ASD (n=32) and without ASD …