Skill acquisition in students with and without Pervasive Developmental Disorder

The purposes of this study were (a) to examine skill acquisition in field hockey of seven junior-high school students with PDD, who attended an inclusive class; and (b) to compare the degree of skill acquisition in field hockey of junior-high school students without disabilities who attend an inclusive class and those who attend a regular class.The motor performance of the students with and without PDD was compared using specially designed field hockey skill tests, before and after a skill acquisition period of two 45-min sessions. Results indicated that (a) students with PDD significantly increased motor performance in the cone circling (CC) task (p < .002); and (b) the percentage gain score of students without disability in the regular class was significantly better in the CC task (p < .02) compared to that in the inclusive class, but did not differ in the slalom between cones task.