Goal Directed Locomotion and Balance Control in Autistic Children

Abstract

This article focuses on postural anticipation and multi-joint coordination during locomotion in healthy and autistic children. Three questions were addressed. (1) Are gait parameters modified in autistic children? (2) Is equilibrium control affected in autistic children? (3) Is locomotion adjusted to the experimenter-imposed goal? Six healthy children and nine autistic children were instructed to walk to a location (a child-sized playhouse) inside the psychomotor room of the pedopsychiatric centre located approximately 5 m in front of them. A kinematic analysis of gait (ELITE system) indicates that, rather than gait parameters or balance control, the main components affected in autistic children during locomotion are the goal of the action, the orientation towards this goal and the definition of the trajectory due probably to an impairment of movement planning.

Symmetry in Infancy: Analysis of Motor Development in Autism Spectrum Disorders

“…Allen and Courchesne [13], using functional Magnetic Resonance, found that certain areas of the cerebellar vermis are incompletely developed in children with autism. Other studies have stressed the importance of the dopaminergic system and of the basal ganglia [14][15][16]. This also supports the view that movement disorders might play a role in ASD.…”

Variation in Vocal-Motor Development in Infant Siblings of Children with Autism

“…Indeed, some authors have speculated that movement disturbances may be directly related to the core symptoms of ASD (e.g., Leary & Hill, 1996). For example, in older children, clumsiness (e.g., Jones & Prior, 1985), difficulty with tasks involving coordinated sequences of movements (e.g., Vernazza-Martin et al, 2005;Wing, 1969), gait abnormalities (e.g., shorter steps, slower pace, unusual arm positions; Damasio & Maurer, 1978;Teitelbaum, Teitelbaum, Nye, Fryman, & Maurer, 1998;Vilensky, Damasio, & Maurer, 1981), and reduced postural stability (Minshew, Sung, Jones, & Furman, 2004) have been reported. Other investigators have indicated that children with ASD perform worse than typically developing children of the same chronological age and like children with developmental delays and younger, mental-age-matched typically developing children on standardized measures of motor skill (Hauck & Dewey, 2001;Manjiviona & Prior, 1995).…”

Head Lag in Infants at Risk for Autism: A Preliminary Study

“…The American Journal of Occupational Therapypoor goal-oriented movement planning (Vernazza-Martin et al, 2005). A recent meta-analysis of motor behavior in 41 studies showed a large effect indicating deficits in motor function in ASD when compared with non-ASD groups at ages ranging from toddlers to adults (Fournier, Hass, Naik, Lodha, & Cauraugh, 2010).…”