Background/Purpose: ASD is the now the highest incidence developmental disability in the United States. The majority of research to date has focused on core deficits in the social and communication domain as well as identifying and intervening on problem behaviors. This is despite recent evidence to suggest that the motor domain may be among the first area of development in children with ASD to demonstrate delays. Past research has demonstrated that more refined motor skills have been shown to be related to a decrease in ASD severity later on in development. Therefore the purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between movement skills and a calibrated severity metric based on the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule raw totals.
Method: Thirty-eight young children with ASD (aged 28 – 68 months) participated in this study. One-way ANOVA's were conducted to examine the relationship between the total, gross and fine motor quotients on the Peabody Developmental Motor Scales – 2 to their calibrated severity scores.
Analysis/Results: Findings reveal a significant relationship between calibrated severity scores and total motor quotient [F(1,35)=5.694,p=0.023] gross motor quotient, [F(1,35)=4.762,p=0.036] and fine motor quotient [F(1,35)=4.754,p=0.036], revealing that higher severity scores are related to poorer movement skills.
Conclusions: This study should add to the limited but growing literature examining movement behavior. Future interventions should focus on addressing the movement skills in young children with ASD as this may have the potential to reduce severity later on in development.