Effects of Dance Therapy on the ability to perceive and learn movements in children with Autism Spectrum Disorder and its impact on autonomy in activities of daily living

INTERVENTION: E02.190.888.374 E02.190.888.500 Sample: 50 children with Autism Spectrum Disorder will be selected, divided into two groups, namely: Experimental Group (n=25) and Control Group (n=25). Study Location: The research will be carried out at the Varginhense Foundation for Assistance to the Exceptional (FUVAE) in Varginha/Minas Gerais. The practices will take place in the institution's physiotherapy rooms, where there will be sound equipment and a rubber floor, for the safety and comfort of patients. The rooms will be adapted, removing tables, mirrors and other objects, in order to avoid distractors for the child. Initial Assessment and Randomization Protocol: Initially, sociodemographic and clinical variables will be collected to characterize the sample. Then, the children will be submitted to the CARS assessment to classify the levels of autism, the PEDI to analyze the levels of disability and independence and the maze test to assess perceptual and motor skills. The initial evaluation will be carried out through a blind evaluator, who will not participate in the interventions (BRADT, 2012). After that moment, randomization will be performed through the process of stratification and block permutation. Children will be stratified in a 1:1 ratio with respect to autism levels. Then the volunteers will be grouped into blocks of equal degrees of autism severity. Subsequently, the participants will be allocated in a hidden way into two groups: Experimental Group (EG), submitted to dance therapy and Control Group (CG), submitted to the music therapy protocol. The hidden allocation will occur following the SNOSE protocol, which uses opaque sealed envelopes to determine the groups of participants (BRADT, 2012; DOIG; SIMPSON, 2005). Initial Acclimatization Protocol for Control Group and Experimental Group: The in CONDITION: Autism Spectrum Disorder F03.625 PRIMARY OUTCOME: It is expected to understand the effects of dance therapy on the perceptive‐motor skills of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder and its impact on autonomy in activities of daily living. The effects will be analyzed in five times: Time 0: pre‐intervention; Time 1: after eight sessions; Time 2: after 16 sessions; Time 3: after 24 sessions (post‐intervention); Time 4: one month after the end of the interventions (follow up). The evaluations will be carried out through the Virtual Maze Test, to analyze the perceptive‐motor skills, and the Pediatric Disability Assessment Inventory, to evaluate the functionality and independence in activities of daily living. The results of the scores of the scales that obtain statistical significance with a value of p<0.05 will be considered. SECONDARY OUTCOME: Secondary outcomes are not expected. INCLUSION CRITERIA: Interdisciplinary Diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder; Both genders; age range between 5 to 7 years old; They were under a period of social isolation; Signed the Informed Assent Term (TAE); Parents and/or guardians who consented to voluntary participation and signed the Free and Informed Consent Term (FICT)