Hammering that Nail: Varied Praxis Motor Skills in Younger Autistic Children.
Praxis deficits are not baked into every young autistic child—check the setting first.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Crucitti et al. (2020) watched young autistic children copy motions like hammering a nail.
They used the FAB-R test to score how well each child planned and moved.
Kids came from regular preschools and from autism-only schools.
What they found
Not every autistic child failed the praxis tasks.
Only the ones in specialist autism schools showed clear dyspraxia.
The rest moved much like typical peers.
How this fits with other research
Fernández-Andrés et al. (2015) saw teachers report praxis problems in almost every autistic pupil.
The new data say the trouble shows up mainly in kids who need a separate classroom.
The gap is about setting, not a rule for all autism.
Gillooly et al. (2025) push the idea even younger—fine motor gaps in toddlers forecast later shifting issues, so early motor checks stay useful.
Why it matters
Screen praxis one child at a time. A label alone does not guarantee a motor goal. If the learner is in a specialist school, plan extra motor practice and ask OT for help. If the child is in a mainstream room, test before you add praxis goals to the plan.
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Join Free →Run a quick FAB-R item—like pretending to use a hammer—before adding any praxis objective to an IFSP or IEP.
02At a glance
03Original abstract
Previous studies measuring praxis abilities in young autistic children have only used praxis measures that were not optimised for autistic individuals. Hence, we used the FAB-R to measure praxis skills in autistic (n = 38) and typically developing (TD) children (n = 38) aged between four and 10 years. Praxis abilities were generally not different between autistic and TD children. However, total dyspraxia and errors during verbal command and tool use were impaired in autistic children from a specialist autistic school (SAS). In contrast, autistic participants from the GC typically did not differ in praxis performance compared to controls. Hence, praxis abilities significantly vary between autistic younger children. Exploring mediating influences of such variability is imperative.
Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 2020 · doi:10.1007/s10803-019-04136-4