A comparison of motor skills in children with autism spectrum disorder and typically developing children
Keywords:
autism spectrum disorder, developmental age, motor skillAbstract
Objective: To explore the motor skill deficits in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and to compare the motor skills between children with autism spectrum disorder and typically developing children.
Methods: Sixty children (ASD group and typical development group, 30 each) aged between 3 and 5 years old included in this study. Motor skills were assessed using three subtests of the Peabody Development Motor Scale-2 (PDMS-2) as follows; ability to sustain posture when not moving, ability to move from one place to another, and ability to manipulate object. The raw scores were converted to standard scores and developmental age for comparison with chronological age. Sum of score in three subtests was converted to gross motor quotient (GMQ) to indicate level of gross motor skill deficit. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and comparative statistics including the independent samples t-test and paired sample t-test.
Results: Children with ASD had lower standard scores in ability to sustain posture when not moving, ability to move from one place to another, and ability to manipulate object than typically developing children of the same age and sex. In addition, their developmental age was significantly less than chronological age in all skills (p < .001). The GMQ scores of children with ASD were mostly in below average level, especially for the ability to sustain posture when not moving.
Conclusion: Children with ASD aged 3 and 5 years old had lower motor skills than typically developing children and all their skills were in deficit level. The physical therapy should be considered to prevent further movement problems.
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