Comparison of Motor Skills in At-risk with Autism Spectrum Disorder Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder and Typical Development Children

Background: Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a complex developmental disorder characterized by repetitive and stereotypical patterns, and difficulties with social communication and interaction in early childhood. Motor development and dysfunction in children with ASD has been the subject of study in recent years and has attracted much of the attention of researchers. As motor dysfunctions can have a negative impact on the educational, language and socio-cognitive skills, and activity of daily life, there is a need for more studies on motor development in children with ASD. The aim of this research was to compare motor skills in at-risk autism spectrum disorder with ASD and typical development children. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was designed to compare 42 children aged 2 to 5 years (each group n#14) who had inclusion criteria. Data was collected from a convenience sampling through Peabody Developmental Motor Scales (PDMS). Data were analyzed using SPSS-21 software. Results: Based on the results of the Kruskal-Wallis analysis, there was significant difference in motor skills in children at-risk autism spectrum disorders compared with typical development children (p = 0.035). Also, there was a significant difference between children at-risk autism spectrum disorder with ASD (p = 0.005). Conclusion: The results showed that children with at-risk autism spectrum disorder showed motor skills problems in comparison with typical development children, so in order to improve their motor skills early intervention program is recommended.