Motor Coordination in Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Synthesis and Meta-Analysis

• Published in: Journal of autism and developmental disorders Vol. 40; no. 10; pp. 1227 - 1240
• Main Authors: Fournier, Kimberly A., Hass, Chris J., Naik, Sagar K., Lodha, Neha, Cauraugh, James H.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Boston Springer US 01.10.2010; Springer; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Arm movements; Autism; Autism Spectrum Disorders; Autistic spectrum disorders; Behavioral Science and Psychology; Biological and medical sciences; Brain; Child; Child and School Psychology; Child clinical studies; Child Development Disorders, Pervasive - complications; Child Development Disorders, Pervasive - diagnosis; Child Development Disorders, Pervasive - physiopathology; Clinical Diagnosis; Comparative Analysis; Coordination; Developmental Delays; Developmental disorders; Effect Size; Human Body; Human Posture; Humans; Infantile autism; Intelligence Quotient; Interpersonal Relationship; Language Impairments; Medical sciences; Meta Analysis; Moderator variables; Motor Development; Motor Skills; Motor Skills Disorders - complications; Motor Skills Disorders - diagnosis; Motor Skills Disorders - physiopathology; Nervous system (semeiology, syndromes); Nervous system as a whole; Neurology; Neurosciences; Original Paper; Pediatrics; Pervasive Developmental Disorders; Postural Balance; Posture; Psychology; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychomotor Skills; Psychopathology. Psychiatry; Public Health; Random effects; Selection Criteria; Standardized Tests; Symptoms (Individual Disorders); Systematic review; Motor coordination and impairments; ASD; Meta-analysis; Human; Nervous system diseases; Motor system disorder; Cognition; Developmental disorder; Review; Motor control; Muscular coordination; Metaanalysis; Autism; Pervasive developmental disorder; Neurological disorder; Motricity
• ISSN: 0162-3257; 1573-3432
• DOI: 10.1007/s10803-010-0981-3

Are motor coordination deficits an underlying cardinal feature of Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD)? Database searches identified 83 ASD studies focused on motor coordination, arm movements, gait, or postural stability deficits. Data extraction involved between-group comparisons for ASD and typically developing controls ( N  = 51). Rigorous meta-analysis techniques including random effects models, forest and funnel plots, I 2 , publication bias, fail-safe analysis, and moderator variable analyses determined a significant standardized mean difference effect equal to 1.20 (SE = 0.144; p  < 0.0001; Z  = 10.49). This large effect indicated substantial motor coordination deficits in the ASD groups across a wide range of behaviors. The current overall findings portray motor coordination deficits as pervasive across diagnoses, thus, a cardinal feature of ASD.