Abnormal Gait Patterns in Autism Spectrum Disorder and Their Correlations with Social Impairments.
Preschoolers with ASD walk flatter and more unevenly than peers, and the clumsier the walk, the bigger the social-communication gap.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Gong et al. (2020) watched 3- to young learners walk across a pressure mat.
They compared the kids with ASD to 30 age-matched peers.
Sensors under the mat measured foot pressure, step length, and timing.
What they found
Kids with ASD had flatter feet, uneven steps, and more stride-to-stride wobble.
The worse the gait, the lower the scores on social-communication tests.
Motor chaos and social struggle rose together.
How this fits with other research
Coffey et al. (2021) later showed the same children, now older, also fall short on sprint and jump tests.
Together the papers trace one line: early shaky gait grows into later poor fitness.
Miltenberger et al. (2013) looked almost identical—same age, same design—but counted activity minutes instead of steps.
They found equal moderate-vigorous time, yet parents said ASD kids do fewer kinds of play.
The studies do not clash: gait quality and activity quantity are different rulers.
Flat, uneven steps may limit skill variety even when total movement looks okay.
Why it matters
You can spot ASD motor red flags during intake.
Add a 30-second barefoot walk on a hallway pressure strip or simply watch for flat, waddling steps.
If you see asymmetry, loop in PT and weave balance games into social-skills sessions.
Treating gait early may boost both movement confidence and peer interaction.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Ground walking in humans is typically stable, symmetrical, characterized by smooth heel-to-toe ground contact. Previous studies on children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) identified various gait abnormalities. However, they produced inconsistent findings, particularly for the occurrence of toe walking and gait symmetry between feet, owing to their reliance on retrospective reports, visual analysis of videos, or kinematic analysis of the gait. The present study examined gait functions in children with ASD using plantar pressure that quantified foot-ground interaction with high spatial and temporal resolutions. Fifty-eight 4-6-year-old children with ASD (12 low-functioning and 46 high-functioning autism) and 28 age-matched typically developed children walked straight 6 m at their preferred speed for 10 repetitions. We found that both ASD groups walked with more flat-footed contact pattern, more left-right asymmetry, and larger step-to-step variability than their controls. Furthermore, these abnormal gait characteristics were related to social impairments measured by the Autism Spectrum Quotient and Social Responsive Scale, supporting a close association between impaired motor coordination and core symptoms of autism. Autism Res 2020, 13: 1215-1226. © 2020 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc. LAY SUMMARY: We examined gait functions among children with autism by measuring their foot plantar pressure during simple straight walking. Children with ASD walked with a characteristic foot-ground contact pattern with inappropriate contact forces and large step-to-step variability when compared with their age-matched controls. These walking abnormalities were dependent on their social impairments but independent from their intelligence, indicating a close relationship between atypical motor coordination and core symptoms of autism.
Autism research : official journal of the International Society for Autism Research, 2020 · doi:10.1002/aur.2302