Motor development in children at risk of autism: A follow-up study of infant siblings

• Published in: Autism : the international journal of research and practice Vol. 18; no. 3; pp. 281 - 291
• Main Authors: Leonard, Hayley C, Bedford, Rachael, Charman, Tony, Elsabbagh, Mayada, Johnson, Mark H, Hill, Elisabeth L, Baron-Cohen, Simon, Bolton, Patrick, Chandler, Susie, Garwood, Holly, Holmboe, Karla, Hudry, Kristelle
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London, England SAGE Publications 01.04.2014
• Subjects: At Risk Students; Autism; Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule; Autistic children; Autistic spectrum disorders; Block Design Test; Bruininks Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency; Child; Child Development; Child Development Disorders, Pervasive; Child, Preschool; Cognitive Structures; Cohort Studies; Diagnostic Tests; Disability Identification; Face; Facial Expression; Female; Followup Studies; Foreign Countries; Humans; Infant; Infants; Intelligence quotient; Intelligence Tests; Longitudinal Studies; Male; Motor Development; Motor Skills; Mullen Scales of Early Learning; Outcome Measures; Parents; Pattern Recognition, Visual; Pervasive Developmental Disorders; Phenotype; Profiles; Prospective Studies; Psychomotor Skills; Questionnaires; Risk; Siblings; Standardized Tests; United Kingdom; Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales; Wechsler Preschool Primary Scale of Intelligence; United Kingdom; motor development; broader autism phenotype; autism spectrum disorder; infant siblings; face processing
• ISSN: 1362-3613; 1461-7005; 1461-7005
• DOI: 10.1177/1362361312470037

Recently, evidence of poor or atypical motor skills in autism spectrum disorder has led some to argue that motor impairment is a core feature of the condition. The current study uses a longitudinal prospective design to assess the development of motor skills of 20 children at increased risk of developing autism spectrum disorder, who were recruited and tested at 9 and 40 months of age, on the basis of having an older sibling diagnosed with the condition. All children completed a range of motor, face processing, IQ and diagnostic assessments at a follow-up visit (aged 5–7 years), providing a detailed profile of development in this group from a number of standardised, parental report and experimental measures. A higher proportion of children than expected demonstrated motor difficulties at the follow-up visit and those highlighted by parental report as having poor motor skills as infants and toddlers were also more likely to have lower face processing scores and elevated autism-related social symptoms at 5–7 years, despite having similar IQ levels. These data lend support to the argument that early motor difficulties may be a risk factor for later motor impairment as well as differences in social communication and cognition, traits that are related to autism spectrum disorder.