Fundamental movement skills and autism spectrum disorders.
School-age kids with ASD move like toddlers, so write motor goals at half their chronological age.
01Research in Context
What this study did
The team tested how well kids with autism move. They looked at 9- to 12-year-olds with ASD. They used the Test of Gross Motor Development to score locomotor and ball skills.
What they found
Kids with ASD moved like typical 5-year-olds. Their skill level was half their real age. Even bright kids with ASD still had big motor gaps.
How this fits with other research
Pan et al. (2009) saw the same thing one year earlier. They also found ASD kids far behind peers on the same motor test.
Ketcheson et al. (2017) later showed you can fix the gap. Four hours of daily motor play for eight weeks pushed preschoolers’ scores way up.
Oliveira et al. (2023) link the lag to real life. Poor ball and balance skills predict less joining-in at home, school, and parks.
Why it matters
Start motor goals at the 5-year level, not the 10-year level. Use preschool games like animal walks, bean-bag toss, and obstacle paths. Track progress every month. Better moving today means better playing with friends tomorrow.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Delays and deficits may both contribute to atypical development of movement skills by children with ASD. Fundamental movement skills of 25 children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) (ages 9-12 years) were compared to three typically developing groups using the Test of Gross Motor Development (TGMD-2). The group matched on chronological age performed significantly better on the TGMD-2. Another comparison group matched on movement skill demonstrated children with ASD perform similarly to children approximately half their age. Comparisons to a third group matched on mental age equivalence revealed the movement skills of children with ASD are more impaired than would be expected given their cognitive level. Collectively, these results suggest the movement skills of children with ASD reflect deficits in addition to delays.
Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 2010 · doi:10.1007/s10803-009-0854-9