Decreased static and dynamic postural control in children with autism spectrum disorders

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate postural control in children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) during static and dynamic postural challenges. We evaluated postural sway during quiet standing and the center of pressure (COP) shift mechanism during gait initiation for thirteen children with ASD and twelve age matched typically developing (TD) children. Children with ASD produced 438% greater normalized mediolateral sway (p<0.05) and 104% greater normalized anteroposterior sway (p<0.05) than TD children. Consequently, normalized sway area was also significantly greater (p<0.05) in the group with ASD. Similarly, the maximum separation between the COP and center of mass (COM) during quiet stance was 100% greater in the anteroposterior direction (p<0.05) and 146% greater in the resultant direction (p<0.05) for children with ASD. No significant difference was observed in the mediolateral direction, in spite of the 123 % greater separation detected in children with ASD. During gait initiation, no group differences were detected in the posterior COP shift mechanism, suggesting the mechanism for generating forward momentum is intact. However, significantly smaller lateral COP shifts (p<0.05) were observed in children with ASD, suggesting instability or an alternative strategy for generating momentum in the mediolateral direction. These results help clarify some discrepancies in the literature, suggesting an impaired or immature control of posture, even under the most basic conditions when no afferent or sensory information have been removed or modified. Additionally, these findings provide new insight into dynamic balance in children with ASD.

The Effects of Tai Chi Based Exercise on Dynamic Postural Control of Parkinson's Disease Patients while Initiating Gait

“…Moreover, pregnant women who reported falling demonstrated reduced movement of the COP when responding to translational perturbation while standing on a movable platform 40) . Further, children with autistic disorder who exhibit less agerelated development and postural instability also have decreased COP shift in the M-L direction while initiating gait, compared to age-matched normally developing children 41) . Therefore, it is plausible that the significantly increased displacement of the COP seen in the present investigation is indicative of increased dynamic postural stability in the participants with PD who practiced the TC exercise.…”

Attentional and sensory contributions to postural sway in children with autism spectrum disorder

“…Poorly developed balance skills in children -regardless of pathology -may reduce the capability to develop more complicated movement skills, which, in turn, may hamper social development and the willingness to participate in sports [13]. Furthermore, a number of studies have analyzed postural sway, and have found postural abnormalities in ASD in various postural tasks, such as quiet standing and looking straight ahead [14][15][16], quiet standing and dual-tasking [17], quiet standing with the eyes closed [8], quiet standing on a sway-referenced platform [18], and quiet standing while performing visual search [19]. Also, postural instability appeared related to symptom severity regarding the occurrence of repetitive behaviors [8].…”

Effects of Tai Chi Training on Obstacle Avoidance and Gait Initiation by Older People

“…A decrease in the M-L displacement of COP while initiating gait was reported in older adults with disabilities, as compared to healthy older adults 40,41) . Furthermore, children who show less age-related development and postural instability also have reduced M-L COP movement when initiating gait, compared to age-matched normally developing children 56) .…”