Age-dependent Relationship Between Socio-adaptability and Motor Coordination in High Functioning Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder.

Kostrubiec et al. (2018) watched high-functioning kids with autism do two kinds of movement tasks.

One task asked them to copy a goal-directed action on purpose. The other let them move however they wanted.

The team also gave parents a social-adaptability survey and tracked the children’s ages to see if skills changed together over time.

Kids with autism moved like their peers when they could choose the action. When they had to copy a goal, they looked clumsier.

Older children with autism showed better intentional moves and better social scores. The two skills rose together as age went up.

Hilton et al. (2010) first showed that 9- to 12-year-olds with autism move like 5-year-old typical kids. Viviane adds that this gap is strongest in planned, not free, movements.

Craig et al. (2018) saw the same motor-social link in preschoolers who also had intellectual disability. Viviane shows the link still holds for school-age kids without ID, proving the pattern is core to autism.

Oliveira et al. (2023) later found that poor object-control and balance shrink how often kids join home, school, and park activities. Viviane’s eye on intentional coordination gives you the exact skill to target if you want participation to grow.

When a child with autism looks awkward during crafts or PE, probe intentional coordination, not just gross motor age. Add goal-copy drills such as bean-bag toss to a model, ribbon tracing, or synchronous ball taps. Track both movement accuracy and social flexibility each quarter; gains in one should lift the other.