Gymnastics Exercises and Executive Function in Children Aged 6 to 9 With Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Pilot Randomized Trial

Physical therapists and physical therapist assistants who work with school-aged children with autism spectrum disorder, along with clinicians in pediatric, school-based, early intervention and developmental settings who read exercise and cognition research and want an accurate plain-language account of what this pilot trial did and did not show.

Physical therapists and physical therapist assistants; also useful to occupational therapists, adapted physical education staff and special education teams working with children aged six to nine with autism spectrum disorder.

Intended audience

Physical Therapy

Level

Introductory

Delivery format

Online, asynchronous, self-paced course: interactive reading with audio or video, and a scored post-test.

Based on

This course reports on a single peer-reviewed pilot randomized controlled trial. Every finding, number and conclusion presented here traces to that one article. No outside data, no clinical recommendations beyond what the authors themselves state, and no extrapolation to populations the trial did not study.

Deng C, Zhu Z, Luo G, Zeng H, Jiang X, Yu Q, Pan X. Effects of gymnastics exercises on executive function in children with autism spectrum disorder aged 6 to 9 years: a pilot study of a randomized controlled trial. Front Psychol. 2025;16:1660305. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1660305. PMID: 41221190. PMCID: PMC12597812.

One study, described as a pilot

The authors themselves label this work a pilot. It enrolled 24 children from a single special school, and the article devotes a full section to the limits that follow from that. Those limits are reported in this course alongside the findings, not after them.

After completing this course, you will be able to:

1. Describe the population, the gymnastics intervention and the comparison condition used in this pilot randomized trial of children aged 6 to 9 with autism spectrum disorder.
2. State what the trial reported for inhibitory control, working memory and cognitive flexibility, both within each group and between the two groups.
3. Explain the limitations the authors identified and how those limitations shape the conclusions that can be drawn from the trial.

1. Start Here: How This Course Works
2. Podcast: Twelve Weeks on the Mat (about nine minutes)
3. Executive Function in Autism and Why Gymnastics Was Tested
4. How the Trial Was Run: Twenty-Four Children, Two Groups, Three Tasks
5. What Changed on the Three Executive Function Measures
6. What This Pilot Cannot Tell Us
7. From the Gym Mat to the Clinic: How the Authors Frame Application
8. Key Takeaways
9. Post-Test and Course Evaluation

Quinn Millington, PT, DPT, ECS is the instructor of record: the licensed clinician who reviewed this course and signed off on it. The name and credentials print on the certificate.

Disclosures. This course was developed by The ConEd Solution, which has a financial interest in its sale. No outside funding or sponsorship was received. The instructor of record has no affiliation with the authors of the source publication or their institutions.

This course awards 0.5 contact hours (30 min). How you earn them:

1. Complete the course. Every lesson, in order.
2. Pass the post-test. Score 80% or higher. Retakes are allowed.
3. Complete the evaluation. A short form rating each learning objective and the course.
4. Download your certificate. It is issued on completion and stays available in My Account.

The episode time is its measured length. Reading, post-test and evaluation times are estimates.

This course is designed to satisfy the quality requirements state boards set for continuing education. Requirements vary by state, and confirming that a course fits your renewal is up to you. Each state’s own acceptance statement is in the credit panel on this page.

1. This course reports on a single peer-reviewed pilot randomized controlled trial. Every finding, number and conclusion presented here traces to that one article. No outside data, no clinical recommendations beyond what the authors themselves state, and no extrapolation to populations the trial did not study.
2. Deng C, Zhu Z, Luo G, Zeng H, Jiang X, Yu Q, Pan X. Effects of gymnastics exercises on executive function in children with autism spectrum disorder aged 6 to 9 years: a pilot study of a randomized controlled trial. Front Psychol. 2025;16:1660305. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1660305. PMID: 41221190. PMCID: PMC12597812.
3. One study, described as a pilot
4. The authors themselves label this work a pilot. It enrolled 24 children from a single special school, and the article devotes a full section to the limits that follow from that. Those limits are reported in this course alongside the findings, not after them.