A Study on the factors contributing for fine motor skills in children with autism spectrum Disorders

Abstract

Children with Autism spectrum disorders ASD predominantly have social impairment but significant physical features are manifested as motor delays and deficits affecting their daily living Delays are found in gross motor fine motor and speech domains and deficits found in praxis coordination and gait Gross motor functions develop overtime but fine motor skills FMS are still found to be delayed even at the age of three years Studies suggest that hand grip strength HGS is reduced in children with ASD which might be one of the factors for dependent functional fine motor task The extent of muscle weakness and its impact on fine motor skills is not clear Reasons for delayed fine motor functions in children with ASD could be multifold which include decreased muscle strength lack of motivation cognitive delays limited attention span and concentration and sensory processing dysfunction SPD which is not clearly explored This study intends to quantify HGS and analyse the various contributing factors for FMS in children with ASD at three to four years of age To identify the factors contributing for fine motor skills in children with autism spectrum disorders at three to four years This cross sectional study was carried out in 65 children with ASD who met the inclusion criteria Subjects were recruited from Vidyasudha Centre for children with special needs and Karthikeyan Child Development Unit an outpatient multispecialty follow up unit. Children diagnosed as ASD with Childhood Autism Rating Scale were included in the study Hand dominance was found using Edinburgh Handedness Inventory Level of fine motor skills was assessed by Peabody Developmental Motor Scale 2 PDMS 2 HGS was quantified with Martin Vigorimeter SPD was assessed with Sensory profile and Cognitive and adaptive functioning was assessed with Developmental Assessment of Young Children Second Edition DAYC 2 Fine motor skills showed poor performance in both grasping and visual motor integration Unpaired t test showed statistically significant decrease in HGS compare