No proprioceptive deficits in autism despite movement-related sensory and execution impairments.

Teens with and without autism sat in a lab. They matched elbow angles while their arms were moved for them or while they moved themselves.

Sensors tracked arm position. The team asked: do autistic teens feel where their arm is any worse?

Both groups hit the same angles. No one was more wobbly.

Proprioception—the sense of limb position—was fine in autism.

Jones et al. (2010) pooled 51 studies and saw big motor clumsiness in autism. Lam et al. (2011) now show the clumsiness is not from poor body sensing.

Milgramm et al. (2021) watched six-year-olds fit pegs. Autistic kids planned slower and jerkier moves. Together the papers say: the body map is okay; the plan or the online fix is shaky.

Chen et al. (2018) asked teens to imagine turning their hand. Autistic teens could do it, just slower. Again, basic body signals work; higher-order imagery lags.

You can stop blaming “poor body awareness” when a client overshoots a reach. Keep teaching motor skills, but add planning cues, slow demo, and extra practice time. The body sense is there; the brain needs more reps to use it smoothly.