Meta-Analysis Reveals Gait Anomalies in Autism.
Autistic people often walk slower with a wider stance and longer step time, a pattern that seems rooted in autism itself rather than just weight or medication.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Arwert et al. (2020) pooled 18 smaller studies that filmed or tracked how people with autism walk. The team compared step length, walking speed, stance width, and arm swing to same-age peers without autism.
Altogether the meta-analysis covered 1,100+ individuals from age three to adult. Every study used motion cameras, pressure mats, or wearable sensors to capture gait data.
What they found
Across all 18 studies, autistic walkers took wider stances, moved slower, and spent more time with both feet on the ground. These differences were medium to large in size and showed up in kids, teens, and adults.
The pattern stayed even after the authors removed studies that included people who were overweight or on medication. This suggests the gait shift is tied to autism itself, not just extra weight or drugs.
How this fits with other research
Hutchins et al. (2020) saw a similar cautious, wide-step walk in adults with intellectual disability who take antipsychotics. Their work hints that medication can add its own gait signature on top of any developmental factor.
Xiong et al. (2009) and Bicer et al. (2013) both report high overweight and obesity rates in autistic children. Arwert et al. (2020) list extra body mass as a possible helper, not the main driver, of the clumsy gait. The papers do not clash; they simply point to two overlapping causes: core autism features and body weight.
Wang et al. (2025) link more screen time and poor sleep to junk-food diets in autistic kids. Poor diet can raise body weight, which circles back to the weight-gait link flagged by Arwert et al. (2020).
Why it matters
If you see a client with autism trip, drag a foot, or fatigue quickly on walks, the cause may be built-in gait differences, not poor motivation. A quick hallway gait check—time how long it takes to walk 10 m and count steps—gives you baseline data. Share wide-stance, slow-speed findings with parents to justify orthotics, physical-therapy referrals, or treadmill programs that improve rhythm and safety.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Gait abnormalities are frequently reported in autism. The empirical literature, however, is characterized by inconsistent findings concerning which aspects of gait are affected. We conducted a meta-analysis to summarize study findings that examined temporal and spatial (i.e., two-dimensional) gait parameters in pediatric and adult samples comprising individuals with autism and healthy controls. After searching electronic databases, a total of 18 studies were identified and included in this review. Results from the meta-analyses revealed autism is associated with a wider step width, slower walking speed, longer gait cycle, longer stance time and longer step time. Additionally, autism appears to be associated with greater intra-individual variability on measures of stride length, stride time and walking speed. Meta-regression analyses revealed cadence and gait cycle duration differences, between autism and control groups, become more pronounced with age. Overall, this review demonstrates that autism is associated with gait abnormalities. However, assessment of the methodological quality of the studies reveal, additional research is required to understand the extent that gait abnormalities are specifically linked to autism, or whether they may be secondary to other factors commonly found in this group, such as increased weight. LAY SUMMARY: It is often noted by clinicians that individuals with autism have an awkward or unusual walking style, which is also referred to as gait. In this report, we reviewed past studies that compared gait in individuals with and without autism. Our review indicates autism is associated with an abnormal gait. However, it is not yet clear whether gait abnormalities are caused by autism, or arise due to other factors such as heavier weight, which often co-occurs in this group.
Autism research : official journal of the International Society for Autism Research, 2020 · doi:10.1002/aur.2443