Poster #47 - Predictors of Gross Motor Learning in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

• In Event: 2-110 - Poster Session 07
  In Poster Session: PS 07 Section - Developmental Disabilities

Integrative Statement

Introduction: Motor discoordination is implicated as a risk factor for autism spectrum disorder (ASD; Mous et al., 2017), a neurodevelopmental condition characterized by social communicative deficits, restricted interests, and repetitive behaviors. Recent research suggests that the cognitive processes that contribute to motor learning may also promote social communicative competency in children with ASD (Nebel et al., 2016). Given that early developmental lines relevant to ASD are frequently dissociated during infancy but intertwined by childhood (e.g., Hawks et al., 2018), evidence of overlap between social and motor constructs has implications for understanding the pathogenesis of ASD and identifying novel targets for intervention. The present study aimed to contribute to this emerging literature by investigating the extent to which social communication and motor coordination independently and jointly predict motor learning in children with ASD. Methods: Data were collected at iCan Bike Camp, a one-week camp sponsored by the Missouri Families for Effective Autism Treatment (MO-FEAT). During camp, participants with ASD (n = 15; 7-16 years old) engaged in a semi-structured training program designed to foster learning of a specific motor skill: riding a bike. To this end, variously-sized "cylinders" (akin to training wheels) provided participants with stability as they learned to ride. When participants demonstrated mastery, they graduated to incrementally smaller cylinders. Learning stage was operationalized as cylinder size (ranging from 1- large to 7- small) and recorded at the start of camp each day. Motor coordination and social communicative impairment were assessed using the Developmental Coordination Disorder Questionnaire (DCDQ; Wilson and Crawford, 2012) and the Social Responsiveness Scale-2 (Constantino and Gruber, 2012), respectively. Hierarchical linear modeling was used to evaluate motor coordination and social communicative impairment (centered and standardized) as predictors of learning stage during camp. Age, gender, and weekday were covaried in all analyses. Results: At the end of camp, 60% of participants were able to ride a two-wheel bicycle at least seventy feet without cylindrical supports. Both social communicative impairment (γ = -.22, SE = .09, p < .02; figure 1A) and motor coordination (γ = .32, SE = .09, p < .01; figure 1B) significantly predicted learning stage during camp. Specifically, greater social communicative impairment was associated with poorer learning, whereas greater motor coordination was associated with improved learning. Social communicative impairment did not explain additional variance above and beyond motor coordination (γ = -.08, SE = .10, p = .42); the constructs were strongly intercorrelated (r = -.52, p < .05; figure 1C). Discussion: We observed social communicative impairment and motor coordination to be significant predictors of gross motor learning in children with ASD and strongly correlated with each other. These results indicate high construct overlap and are consistent with a model whereby early motor impairments exacerbate (and are exacerbated by) ASD risk (Constantino, 2018), becoming inextricably intertwined in middle to late childhood. Given these findings, we propose that future research could explore potential interactions between interventions aimed at targeting social communicative impairments vis-á-vis motor coordination impairments, with implications for motor learning, adaptive functioning, and daily independence.

Authors

• Zoe Hawks, Washington University in St. Louis
  Presenting Author

• John N. Constantino, Washington University School of Medicine
  Non-Presenting Author

• Natasha Marrus, Washington University in St. Louis School of Medicine
  Non-Presenting Author