School of Psychology and Psychiatry, Monash University, Wellington Road, Clayton, VIC, Australia.
Res Dev Disabil. 2013 Sep;34(9):2917-26. doi: 10.1016/j.ridd.2013.06.003. Epub 2013 Jun 29.
It has been consistently reported that children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) show considerable handwriting difficulties, specifically relating to accurate and consistent letter formation, and maintaining appropriate letter size. The aim of this study was to investigate the underlying factors that contribute to these difficulties, specifically relating to motor control. We examined the integrity of fundamental handwriting movements and contributions of neuromotor noise in 26 children with ASD aged 8-13 years (IQ>75), and 17 typically developing controls. Children wrote a series of four cursive letter l's using a graphics tablet and stylus. Children with ASD had significantly larger stroke height and width, more variable movement trajectory, and higher movement velocities. The absolute level of neuromotor noise in the velocity profiles, as measured by power spectral density analysis, was significantly higher in children with ASD; relatively higher neuromotor noise was found in bands >3 Hz. Our findings suggest that significant instability of fundamental handwriting movements, in combination with atypical biomechanical strategies, contribute to larger and less consistent handwriting in children with ASD.
一直有研究报告指出，自闭症谱系障碍（ASD）儿童存在相当大的书写困难，具体表现为字母形成不准确和不一致，以及字母大小不规范。本研究旨在探究导致这些困难的潜在因素，特别是与运动控制相关的因素。我们检查了 26 名 8-13 岁（智商>75）自闭症儿童和 17 名正常发育对照组儿童基本书写动作的完整性以及神经运动噪声的贡献。儿童使用图形平板电脑和手写笔写一系列四个草书字母 l。自闭症儿童的笔触高度和宽度明显更大，运动轨迹更不稳定，运动速度更高。通过功率谱密度分析测量的速度曲线中神经运动噪声的绝对水平在自闭症儿童中明显更高；在>3 Hz 的频段中发现相对较高的神经运动噪声。我们的研究结果表明，基本书写动作的显著不稳定性，结合异常的生物力学策略，导致自闭症儿童的书写更大且更不一致。
