Motor and gestural skills of children with autism spectrum disorders
(ASD), developmental coordination disorder (DCD), and/or attention
deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) were investigated. A total of 49
children with ASD, 46 children with DCD, 38 children with DCD+ADHD, 27
children with ADHD, and 78 typically developing control children
participated. Motor skills were assessed with the
Bruininks–Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency Short Form, and
gestural skills were assessed using a test that required children to
produce meaningful gestures to command and imitation. Children with ASD,
DCD, and DCD+ADHD were significantly impaired on motor coordination
skills; however, only children with ASD showed a generalized impairment in
gestural performance. Examination of types of gestural errors revealed
that children with ASD made significantly more incorrect action and
orientation errors to command, and significantly more orientation and
distortion errors to imitation than children with DCD, DCD+ADHD, ADHD, and
typically developing control children. These findings suggest that
gestural impairments displayed by the children with ASD were not solely
attributable to deficits in motor coordination skills. (JINS,
2007, 13, 246–256.)