Motor deficits in autism differ from that of developmental coordination disorder.
Autism motor rehab should emphasize anticipation training, not the same drills used for developmental coordination disorder.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Lizon et al. (2024) compared how kids with autism move versus kids with developmental coordination disorder (DCD).
They used a quasi-experimental design. All groups did the same fine-motor and gross-motor tasks while cameras and sensors tracked every move.
The goal was to see if the two diagnoses show the same kind of clumsiness or different patterns.
What they found
Both groups scored low on standard motor tests, but the problems came from different places.
Kids with DCD had trouble with the actual movement — weak grip, poor balance. Kids with autism could do the move, but they started late and mis-timed each step.
The authors say autism rehab should teach anticipation, not the same strength drills used for DCD.
How this fits with other research
Thomas et al. (2021) surveyed thousands of kids and found 85% of autistic children are also at risk for DCD. That paper warned that motor issues make core autism symptoms worse. Marie’s work explains why: the motor problem in autism is about timing, not strength.
Weiss et al. (2001) first noticed this timing issue. They saw autistic kids had intact execution but lacked motor anticipation. Marie’s study confirms and extends that small case series with larger, stricter controls.
Iarocci et al. (2017) showed autistic kids write with jerkier, less steady pen strokes. Marie adds the reason — they start each stroke late because they don’t anticipate the next move.
Why it matters
If you write OT or PT goals, stop copying DCD protocols. Replace heavy grip-strength drills with turn-taking games that force the child to predict the next move. Add visual countdowns, rhythmic cues, or “ready-set-go” scripts. You should see smoother, better-timed actions without extra fatigue.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
A vast majority of individuals with autism spectrum disorder experience impairments in motor skills. Those are often labelled as additional developmental coordination disorder despite the lack of studies comparing both disorders. Consequently, motor skills rehabilitation programmes in autism are often not specific but rather consist in standard programmes for developmental coordination disorder. Here, we compared motor performance in three groups of children: a control group, an autism spectrum disorder group and a developmental coordination disorder group. Despite similar level of motor skills evaluated by the standard movement assessment battery for children, in a Reach-to-Displace Task, children with autism spectrum disorder and developmental coordination disorder showed specific motor control deficits. Children with autism spectrum disorder failed to anticipate the object properties, but could correct their movement as well as typically developing children. In contrast, children with developmental coordination disorder were atypically slow, but showed a spared anticipation. Our study has important clinical implications as motor skills rehabilitations are crucial to both populations. Specifically, our findings suggest that individuals with autism spectrum disorder would benefit from therapies aiming at improving their anticipation, maybe through the support of their preserved representations and use of sensory information. Conversely, individuals with developmental coordination disorder would benefit from a focus on the use of sensory information in a timely fashion.
Autism : the international journal of research and practice, 2024 · doi:10.1177/13623613231171980