Motor performance, praxis, and social skills in autism spectrum disorder and developmental coordination disorder

Previous research has shown that individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and developmental coordination disorder (DCD) may have overlapping social and motor skill impairments. This study compares ASD, DCD, and typically developing (TD) youth on a range of social, praxis and motor skills, and investigates the relationship between these skills in each group. Data were collected on participants aged 8-17 (n = 33 ASD, n = 28 DCD, n = 35 TD). Overall, the clinical groups showed some similar patterns of social and motor impairments but diverged in praxis impairments, cognitive empathy, and Theory of Mind ability. When controlling for both social and motor performance impairments, the ASD group showed significantly lower accuracy on imitation of meaningful gestures and gesture to command, indicating a prominent deficit in these praxis skills in ASD. LAY SUMMARY: Individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and developmental coordination disorder (DCD) have social and motor skill impairments to varying degrees. This study compares ASD, DCD, and typically developing (TD) youth on a range of social, praxis, and motor skills. ASD and DCD shared similar patterns of gross and fine motor skills, but differed in skills related to making gestures. Specifically, our results also suggest that ASD has a prominent deficit in gesture performance and meaningful imitation compared to TD and DCD groups.