Abstract
Objective: This study was conducted to determine the gross and fine motor profiles of children with autism spectrum disorder compared to typically developing children. Additionally, we also assessed if the motor delay was more pronounced with increasing age.Method: This was a retrospective study involving children aged 12–60 months of age comparing motor development in children with autism spectrum disorder with typically developing children. Their developmental profile was assessed using Schedule of Growing Skills II. Descriptive statistics was used to analyse the developmental profile between the groups.Results: ASD children had significant gross motor (6.7%) and fine motor delay (38.5%) compared to typically developing children, who did not show any delay. The motor delay in ASD children was more prominent in older children.Conclusion: It is important to assess motor development in ASD children as there is significant motor delay in these children compared to typically developing children, and the delay becomes more prominent with age. Early detection of motor delay could allow provision of early intervention services to optimize developmental outcomes.
Highlights
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental condition that involves persistent challenges in social interaction, speech, non-verbal communication, and restrictive/repetitive behavior [1]
The participants were ASD children between the ages of 12 and 60 months seen at the Child Development Center (CDC) at Hospital Canselor Tuanku Muhriz (HCTM), Universiti Kebangsaan Medical Centre (UKMMC), between January 1, 2018 and June 30, 2019, and typically developing children attending the hospital for other reasons or who were children of hospital staff
These were excluded to reduce other confounding factors that might affect the motor performance in these group of children. We excluded these children with recognized co-morbidities such as genetic syndromes, focal neurological findings and seizures as we postulated that brain abnormalities that may be associated with these conditions may predispose to delay in gross or fine motor development, and we wanted to determine if the diagnosis of ASD alone without these co-morbidities is associated with motor delay
Summary
This study was conducted to determine the gross and fine motor profiles of children with autism spectrum disorder compared to typically developing children. We assessed if the motor delay was more pronounced with increasing age. Method: This was a retrospective study involving children aged 12–60 months of age comparing motor development in children with autism spectrum disorder with typically developing children. Their developmental profile was assessed using Schedule of Growing Skills II. Descriptive statistics was used to analyse the developmental profile between the groups
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