The Effectiveness of Dosahu and Floortime Psychomotor Rehabilitation on Theory of Mind and Motor Imagery in 6- to 10-Year-Old Students with High-Functioning Autism

Objective: The present study examines the effectiveness of two psychomotor rehabilitation methods, Dosahu and Floortime, on the theory of mind in students with high-functioning autism. Methodology: This study is an applied research in terms of its objective and a quasi-experimental interventional study in terms of data collection, employing a single-group pretest-posttest design with a control group and follow-up. The statistical population consisted of all 6- to 10-year-old boys with high-functioning autism in Tehran who were enrolled in exceptional schools in the city during the 2023-2024 academic year. The sampling method used in this study was multi-stage cluster random sampling. Participants were selected from autistic children diagnosed by the Organization for Special Education and identified as having high-functioning autism based on the Autism Spectrum Screening Questionnaire (ASSQ). A total of 45 children were randomly assigned to three groups of 15 participants each. The first group underwent Dosahu intervention, the second group received Floortime intervention, and the third group served as the control group, receiving no intervention. Data analysis was conducted using paired t-tests and visual depiction or graphical analysis via SPSS. Findings: The Dosahu therapeutic method significantly affected the subscales of theory of mind in children with autism spectrum disorder. Furthermore, the effect size indicates that the Dosahu method was more effective in improving preliminary theory of mind in children with autism spectrum disorder and contributed more to its enhancement (p<0.01). Conclusion: The results of this study showed that Dosahu and Floortime psychomotor rehabilitation positively impact the improvement of theory of mind and motor imagery in children with high-functioning autism, enhancing their cognitive and motor skills.