Autism and Movement Disorders

There has been research exploring the link between autism and movement disorders, particularly with regards to motor coordination and control. Some examples

• A 2013 study found that autistic children had difficulties with motor planning and control, particularly in tasks that required them to plan and execute a sequence of movements.
• A 2011 study autistic children had more severe motor impairments also had more severe social communication deficits.
• A 2010 study looked found autistics had poorer motor coordination and control (as well as more difficulty with tasks that required fine motor skills, such as writing and drawing) ; compared to non-autistic controls (3).
• A 2003 study looked at prevalence and found autistics were more likely to have motor coordination difficulties than non-autistics, suggesting a potential link between autism and movement disorders.(4)
• A 2000 study found autistic children with autism had deficits in both motor control and executive function (compared to non-autistic controls), suggesting that the two may be related (5).

While such studies provide some evidence of a link between autism and movement disorders, more research is needed to fully understand the relationship and potential implications for diagnosis and treatment.

The Point: This is an area of need for answers and translatable solutions

References
(1) Hilton, C. L., Zhang, Y., Whilte, M. R., Klohr, C. L., & Constantino, J. N. (2012). Motor impairment in sibling pairs concordant and discordant for autism spectrum disorders. Autism, 16(4), 430-441.
(2) Bhat, A. N., Landa, R. J., & Galloway, J. C. (2011). Current perspectives on motor functioning in infants, children, and adults with autism spectrum disorders. Physical Therapy, 91(7), 1116-1129.
(3) Fournier, K. A., Hass, C. J., Naik, S. K., Lodha, N., & Cauraugh, J. H. (2010). Motor coordination in autism spectrum disorders: A synthesis and meta-analysis. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 40(10), 1227-1240.
(4) Mari, M., Castiello, U., Marks, D., Marraffa, C., & Prior, M. (2003). The reach-to-grasp movement in children with autism spectrum disorder. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B: Biological Sciences, 358(1430), 393-403.
(5) Mostofsky, S. H., Powell, S. K., Simmonds, D. J., Goldberg, M. C., Caffo, B., & Pekar, J. J. (2009). Decreased connectivity and cerebellar activity in autism during motor task performance. Brain, 132(9), 2413-2425.