Toe Spread Out Exercise With and Without Walking Surface Training in Children With Autism

Flatfoot is a common postural deformity in children, characterized by the collapse of the medial longitudinal arch, leading to abnormal foot posture, gait disturbances, and postural instability. Arch collapse in flatfoot is also due to navicular drop a condition where the navicular bone, located in the midfoot, shifts downward excessively when bearing weight.

This excessive drop reflects poor structural support in the foot and is often linked to weakness in the intrinsic foot muscles. The intrinsic and extrinsic muscles of the foot, particularly the abductor hallucis (AbdH), play a vital role in maintaining arch stability.

Strengthening exercises like toe spread out movements are specifically designed to target these muscles by abducting and flexing the toes, helping to support and elevate the medial arch. This study aims to investigate the combined effect of toe spread out exercises and walking surface training on navicular drop and jumping performance in children with ASD, focusing on muscle strength and sensory-motor integration to support functional movement and postural control. This randomized controlled trial will be conducted over ten months at Step Up Autism Center and Rehab Care, Lahore, following ethical approval from the Research Ethical Committee of Riphah International University Islamabad (Lahore Campus). Children aged 7 to 12 years, clinically diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, navicular drop, and poor locomotor skills will be recruited through non-probability convenient sampling. After obtaining informed consent from guardians, eligible participants will be randomly allocated into two groups. Group A will perform toe spread out exercises only, while Group B will perform toe spread out exercises combined with walking surface training. Both interventions will be carried out three times a week for eight weeks. This will be a single-blinded study, where the assessor will remain unaware of the group allocations. Data collection will involve pre- and post intervention assessment using the Navicular Drop Test, Wet Footprint Test (Clarke's Angle), Horizontal Jump Test, and the Test of Gross Motor Development-Second Edition (TGMD-2) to evaluate changes in foot posture, arch structure, lower limb power, and locomotor skills in participating children.