THE ROLE OF THE APPLICATION OF BALANCE-AUDITORY-VISION EXERCISES (BAL-A-VIS-X) THERAPY IN IMPROVING VISUAL COORDINATION FUNCTION AND GROSS MOTOR SKILLS IN CHILDREN WITH AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDER (ASD)

This study aimed to examine the effectiveness of Balance-Auditory-Vision Exercises (Bal-A-Vis-X) therapy in improving visual coordination and gross motor skills in children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). A quasi-experimental one-group pretest-posttest design was employed. Participants consisted of six children with mild-to-moderate ASD at Yakita School Medan, selected through purposive sampling based on a sensory-motor-academic assessment checklist. Data were collected using a visual coordination scale and a gross motor function scale, then analyzed using descriptive statistics, the Shapiro-Wilk normality test, and the Paired Sample t-Test. The results showed that the mean visual coordination score increased from 23.50 (pre-test) to 40.00 (post-test), while the mean gross motor score increased from 37.00 to 60.67, with mean percentage increases of 71.15% and 64.50%, respectively. The Paired Sample t-Test yielded a significance value of 0.000 (p < 0.05) for both variables, indicating a significant difference before and after the intervention. These findings suggest that Bal-A-Vis-X therapy is effective in improving visual coordination and gross motor skills in children with ASD and may be considered a supportive sensorimotor intervention for children on the autism spectrum.