New research has shown that the Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and the Developmental coordination disorder (DCD), each have their own distinct patterns of motor and social skills, which in some cases overlap. The study findings also confirm a growing body of evidence indicating that certain movement patterns, while not currently used as a criterion for diagnosing autism spectrum disorder, may actually be a key feature of ASD or a very common comorbidity experienced by people. individuals with autism.
The results of the study have been published in the scientific journal Autism Research.
Motor and Social Skills in ASD Individuals: Here’s What the Research Says
“There are open questions facing the field: whether there are motor skills unique to autism, how they might be distinguished from those seen in DCD, and whether they could inform screening tools and diagnosis “said the lead author of the article Emily Kilroy: “This document brings us closer to answering these questions“.
The study, coordinated by the Associate Professor Lisa Aziz-Zadehsought to identify common and unique motor and social skill patterns in ASD and DCD, how these patterns relate to each other, and how they relate to the symptoms and experiences of children with autism. It was conducted as part of a $ 2.1 million five-year project led by Aziz-Zadeh funded by the NIH National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.
Aziz-Zadeh is a neuroscientist who studies, among other topics, the ways in which sensory-motor regions of the brain are involved in processing aspects of higher cognition including language, thought, emotion, empathy, and social understanding. She is jointly nominated by the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences’ Brain and Creativity Institute and the college’s Department of Psychology.
ASD is currently diagnosed based on a person’s experiences in two basic domains: difficulty with social interaction or communication and narrow interests and repetitive behaviors. In contrast, DCD is diagnosed on the basis of difficulty in performing age-appropriate motor and social skills, which can subsequently affect relationships and social experiences, particularly for children.
“Most standard motor assessments cannot detect differences between the ASD and DCD groups“, Said Aziz-Zadeh:”However, in this study, we were able to identify two motor skills that seem particularly difficult for young people with autism, even more so than for children with DCD, which can help scientists and doctors better discriminate between conditions using motor measures ” .
The research team drew on standardized assessments and scales to measure the motor and social skills of 96 participants aged eight to 17 in three study groups: typically developing children; children diagnosed with ASD; and children diagnosed with DCD.
Compared to typically developing children, volunteers with ASD and DCD demonstrated greater difficulty in performing motor skills. However, the ASD group, compared to the DCD group, had significantly greater difficulty with two particular tasks: gesturing in response to a verbal command (for example, successfully answering the question “can you say hello?”) And imitating meaningful gestures (for example , successfully using the hand to imitate a hammering motion).
“This study identifies the distinctive motor skills in ASD as distinct from other comorbidities such as DCD“, Explained Aziz-Zadeh:”There are a number of implications for screening, diagnosis and interventions“.
The team of scientists also revealed that more than one in three children with DCD scored lower on the assessment of social skills, even though social skills are not a criterion for diagnosing DCD. This indicates that interventions, such as occupational therapy, that specifically focus on building social skills may be of benefit to some individuals with DCD.
“The social experiences of children with DCD can be much more variable than we currently appreciate, so a better understanding of that variability could result in more accurate assessment and treatment by doctors in the near future.”Aziz-Zadeh said.
#Distinct #motor #social #skills #ASD #child