Unit for Severe Disabilities in Developmental Age and Young Adults, Scientific Institute, IRCCS E. Medea, Brindisi, Italy; University of Calabria (UNICAL), Department of Cultures, Education and Society, Italy.
Child Psychopathology Unit, Scientific Institute, IRCCS E. Medea, Bosisio Parini, Italy.
Hum Mov Sci. 2021 Jun;77:102802. doi: 10.1016/j.humov.2021.102802. Epub 2021 Apr 21.
Motor abnormalities are generally observed in autism spectrum disorder (ASD), and motor difficulties are certainly evident during the early years of life and may thus precede social-communication impairments. The main aim of the present study was to examine ASD subtypes based on the relationship between motor skills and social communication abilities. Motor skills and social communication abilities were evaluated through the Movement Assessment Battery for Children-Second Edition, the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule-Second Version and the Psychoeducational Profile-Third Edition. In addition, social communication abilities were classified according to the Autism Classification System of Functioning: Social Communication-ACSF:SC criteria. We found that children with ASD presented poorer motor skills than their TD peers, and motor impairments correlated with poorer social communication abilities in children with ASD. In addition, children with lower social and communication functioning showed a more prominent impairment in manual dexterity and fine motor skills than children with better social and communication functioning. In conclusion, we suggest that stratifying children with ASD based on motor and social endophenotypes may be useful to understand the neurobiological mechanisms of ASD and lead to new types of treatment.
运动障碍通常在自闭症谱系障碍（ASD）中观察到，运动困难在生命的早期显然存在，因此可能先于社交沟通障碍。本研究的主要目的是根据运动技能与社会沟通能力的关系来检查 ASD 的亚型。通过儿童运动评估第二版、自闭症诊断观察量表第二版和心理教育概况第三版评估运动技能和社会沟通能力。此外，根据自闭症功能分类系统：社会沟通-ACSF：SC 标准对社会沟通能力进行分类。我们发现，ASD 儿童的运动技能比 TD 同龄儿童差，并且运动障碍与 ASD 儿童较差的社会沟通能力相关。此外，社会和沟通功能较低的儿童在手动灵巧性和精细运动技能方面的损伤比社会和沟通功能较好的儿童更为突出。总之，我们建议根据运动和社会内表型对 ASD 儿童进行分层可能有助于理解 ASD 的神经生物学机制，并导致新的治疗类型。
