Poor motor skills might predict if autistic child is at language disability risk

The fine motor skills autistic children exhibit while eating, writing or even buttoning their shirt, might seem trivial but can act as a strong predictor to identify if they are at risk of developing lasting language disabilities, suggest a new study.

The association between fine motor skills and autistic child's language development was found in a study published in the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry.

In an American sample of language-delayed children with autism, researchers found that nearly half had extremely delayed fine motor skills.

Of this group, 77.5 per cent who had extremely delayed motor skills continued to have language disabilities in later childhood or young adulthood. By contrast, 69.6 per cent of children who demonstrated less impaired fine motor skills overcame their language delays by late childhood or young adulthood. Read Complete Article