Longitudinal development of manual motor ability in autism spectrum disorder from childhood to mid‐adulthood relates to adaptive daily living skills

Abstract

Many individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) exhibit motor difficulties, but it is unknown whether manual motor skills improve, plateau, or decline in ASD in the transition from childhood into adulthood. Atypical development of manual motor skills could impact the ability to learn and perform daily activities across the life span. This study examined longitudinal grip strength and finger tapping development in individuals with ASD (n=90) compared to individuals with typical development (n=56), ages five to 40 years old. We further examined manual motor performance as a possible correlate of current and future daily living skills. The group with ASD demonstrated atypical motor development, characterized by similar performance during childhood but increasingly poorer performance from adolescence into adulthood. Grip strength was correlated with current adaptive daily living skills, and Time 1 grip strength predicted daily living skills eight years into the future. These results suggest that individuals with ASD may experience increasingly more pronounced motor difficulties from adolescence into adulthood and that manual motor performance in ASD is related to adaptive daily living skills.

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“…Precisely 49 studies comparing ASC and typically-developing (TD) control groups answer this question in the affirmative. The more methodologically rigorous studies, those which a) either matched for chronological and/or mental age and/or IQ or b) controlled for these in their analyses, and c) had more sizeable groups (>30 per group) demonstrate that motor impairments occur more often than might be expected in TD children (AbuDahab, Skidmore, Holm, Rogers, & Minshew, 2013;Ament et al, 2015;Dewey, Cantell, & Crawford, 2007;Dowell, Mahone, & Mostofsky, 2009;Duffield et al, 2013;Dziuk et al, 2007;Floris et al, 2016;Sumner, Leonard, & Hill, 2016;Travers et al, 2015Travers et al, , 2016. A meta-analysis of 41 studies confirmed that, despite substantial variation, effect sizes are large with TD participants significantly outperforming individuals with autism in motor coordination, arm movements, gait and postural stability (Fournier, Hass, Naik, Lodha, & Cauraugh, 2010), and that these effects did not seem affected by publication bias.…”

“…Other studies of kinematics in very basic arm movements and reaching and grasping reveal differences between autistic and TD participants (Campione, Piazza, Villa, & Molteni, 2016;Cook, Blakemore, & Press, 2013). Use of more traditional neuropsychological tests reflect poorer performance in the grip strength (Abu-Dahab et al, 2013;Hardan et al, 2003;Travers et al, 2015Travers et al, , 2016, finger tapping (Abu-Dahab et al, 2013;Duffield et al, 2013;Hardan et al, 2003;Travers et al, 2016) and pegboard tasks (Abu-Dahab et al, 2013;Ament et al, 2015;Barbeau, Meilleur, Zeffiro, & Mottron, 2015;Duffield et al, 2013;Hardan et al, 2003). These tests ascend in difficulty, primarily testing muscle strength, simple motor coordination and dexterity respectively.…”

“…Where adults are studied, they are often grouped with adolescents in samples with substantial age range [Hardan, Kilpatrick, Keshavan, & Minshew (2003), for example, include an autistic group with an average age of 19 but who range from 8 to 43 years old] e a period in which neuroanatomy is likely to undergo gross alterations. Such wide-ranging samples are unlikely to capture particular characteristics of adolescents or adults, but nevertheless suggest that motor deficits exist in c o r t e x 1 0 0 ( 2 0 1 8 ) 1 4 9 e1 9 0 older populations (Barbeau et al, 2015;Biscaldi et al, 2014;Cook et al, 2013;Linkenauger et al, 2012;Sachse et al, 2013;Thompson et al, 2017;Travers et al, 2016Travers et al, , 2013. Where studies investigate age as a continuous variable affecting motor performance, such as with longitudinal designs, they suggest that the deviance in motor performance may widen with age (Lloyd et al, 2013;Travers et al, 2016) e this certainly requires further investigation.…”

“…Such wide-ranging samples are unlikely to capture particular characteristics of adolescents or adults, but nevertheless suggest that motor deficits exist in c o r t e x 1 0 0 ( 2 0 1 8 ) 1 4 9 e1 9 0 older populations (Barbeau et al, 2015;Biscaldi et al, 2014;Cook et al, 2013;Linkenauger et al, 2012;Sachse et al, 2013;Thompson et al, 2017;Travers et al, 2016Travers et al, , 2013. Where studies investigate age as a continuous variable affecting motor performance, such as with longitudinal designs, they suggest that the deviance in motor performance may widen with age (Lloyd et al, 2013;Travers et al, 2016) e this certainly requires further investigation. Anecdotal reports from autistic adults describe motor impairments with significant impact on wellbeing and functionality (Robledo, Donnellan, & StrandtConroy, 2012).…”

“…Anecdotal reports from autistic adults describe motor impairments with significant impact on wellbeing and functionality (Robledo, Donnellan, & StrandtConroy, 2012). This, and the relationship between motor function and functional daily living skills (Jasmin et al, 2009;Travers et al, 2016), suggest that ameliorating motor dysfunction in ASC is worthy of considerable attention. We shall go on to explore the full ramifications of motor disorder in the remainder of this paper.…”