Improving Selective Attention for All Students with Coordinative Bal-A-Vis-X Movement Breaks: A Pilot Study

ABSTRACT Brief coordinative movement breaks increase student attention and should be implemented by school-based occupational therapists to support the occupational potential of all students. Inattention is one of the most common reasons for student referrals to special education. Decreased physical activity is a contributing factor, yet movement opportunities are declining in schools. Despite these trends and the call from AOTA to support health promotion and prevention for all, 1:1 occupational therapy focusing on students identified with handwriting deficits continue to be prevalent in school-based practice. To remain a relevant service and keep pace with changing trends in special education and best practice, occupational therapists must broaden their scope to address inattention. This study explored Bal-A-Vis-X as an inclusive coordinative exercise intervention and found that 10-minutes of Bal-A-Vis-X twice per week for eight weeks improved attention in sixth grade students from d2 Test of Attention pretest to posttests. Immediate posttest improvements were statistically significant for processing speed (TN, t(27) = −7.27, p <.001), focused attention (TN-E, t(27) = −9.85, p <.001), concentration performance (CP, t(27) = −7.90, p <.001), and accuracy (E%, t(27) = 1.72, p = .048). Delayed posttesting was completed 90-minutes after the intervention with statistically significant improvements in processing speed (TN, t(21) = −10.37, p <.001), focused attention (TN-E, t(21) = −12.59, p <.001), concentration performance (CP, t(21) = −11.28, p <.001), and accuracy (E%, t(21) = 2.62, p = .008).