Disentangling Neural Sources of the Motor Interference Effect in High Functioning Autism: An EEG-Study.

The team wired 24 high-functioning adults with autism to EEG caps.

They watched the adults copy simple hand moves while the machine tracked brain waves.

The goal was to see which step in the chain—planning the move or telling self from other—breaks down in autism.

The big surprise: the brain wave that marks "this is my move, not yours" looked normal.

But the early readiness wave that fires just before a move was weak and late.

So the adults knew whose hand was whose, yet their brains still struggled to start the action.

Osório et al. (2025) extends the story to toddlers. They found the same motor-planning glitch shows up as wobbly, uneven steps in 18-month-olds with autism.

Deserno et al. (2017) used motion capture to show that kids with Developmental Coordination Disorder also have uneven steps. The methods differ—EEG versus cameras—but both point to motor-planning as the weak link.

Stewart et al. (2018) looked at Rett syndrome and found foot-pressure asymmetry predicts who can walk. Again, asymmetry in motor control links to real-life mobility, matching the EEG asymmetry seen here.

If imitation fails because the brain cannot start the move, not because the person confuses self with other, then our drills should target motor initiation. Try giving a clear "ready, go" cue or a brief countdown before each model to boost that readiness wave.