The Effect of Play on Social and Motor Skills of Children With ASD

46 children with ASD between 5 and 15 years of age will be randomly assigned to the multimodal or general play or seated play groups. Each child will participate in 9 testing sessions (4 pretests, 3 posttests, and 3, 2-month follow-ups) and 8 weeks of multimodal or general intervention between pre-tests and post-tests. In the 8-week phase between the pre- and post-tests, each child will complete group-specific intervention-related activities with the expert clinician twice per week via telehealth or face-to-face interactions. Each session will last for around 1-1.5 hours. If the study aims are achieved, the investigators will validate the use of cortical markers as a treatment response measure. Findings from this research will offer evidence for the use of various movement interventions to promote motor, social communication, and cognitive skills in school-age children with ASD.