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Abstract

Motor and social competence are delayed in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Social interaction and functional physical capacity play an important role for developing peer relationships in school settings such as gym, playground, and classroom. Research on the delayed motor competence in relationship to poor social interaction in children with ASD is limited. The purpose of the study was to examine motor competence and social skills functioning in children with ASD. A sample of 23 children diagnosed with ASD participated in the study. Bruininks-Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency-II (BOT-2) was used to examine children's motor competence and Autism Social Skill Profile (ASSP) survey was given to parents to assess children's social skills functioning. The descriptive analysis revealed that 87% of the children with ASD were classified as below average or well below average category in BOT-2 suggesting the children with ASD were delayed in motor competence. In addition, 52% of the children were ranked at or below 50th percentile on the ASSP indicating that they had poor social skill functioning. A significant positive correlation was found between BOT-2 and ASSP revealed that children with ASD who performed poorly in BOT-2 also scored low in ASSP. These findings suggest that including fine and gross motor skills in the treatment interventions for children with ASD may improve their health-related wellbeing and maintain positive socialization.

The Effects of Covid-19 Lockdown Process: Health Status of Young People With Autism Spectrum Disorder

“…Although the symptoms of ASD vary from person to person, it is noted that children diagnosed with it often have disorders in cognitive skills (Tan & Pooley, 2016), language and communication skills, social skills, and social behavior (Aksay, 2022a;Lee & Vargo, 2017;Yarimkaya & Ilhan, 2020). Likewise, it is thought that motor limitations may be commonly seen in young people with ASD (Garcia et al, 2020) where anxiety and routine repetitions are seen to be high, regardless of the presence of a mental disability (Bhat et al, 2011;Liu et al, 2020).…”