Research: Sensori-Motor and Daily Living Skills in Preschool Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders

Authored by Jasmin, E., Couture M., McKinley P., Reid G., Fombonne E., and Gisel E. in J Autism Dev Disord, Volume 39, Issue 2, p. 231-241, (2009).

Article summary (posted Apr 23, 2009):

Therapy that teaches motor skills may help children with autism to perform daily tasks.

The purpose of this study was to see if sensori-motor skills affect whether or not preschool-aged children with autism can perform daily living skills. The authors assumed that children with autism would have weaker sensori-motor skills than other children. While this was true, they found that the sensori-motor skills varied quite a bit amongst their group of 35 children with autism. The children with autism had large delays in gross motor and fine motor skills compared to other children. The poor daily living skills in children with autism are caused, in part, by these delays in sensorimotor skills.

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You can access the original abstract and the complete paper is sometimes available for free via Google Scholar (look for entries that say "PDF" or "HTML" on the right side of the page).
autism, autism spectrum disorder (ASD), daily living skills, fine motor skills, gross motor skills, motor, motor skills, occupational therapy (OT), physical therapy (PT), preschool, sensorimotor, therapy
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