Motor Capacities in Boys with High Functioning Autism: Which Evaluations to Choose?

Abstract

The difficulties with motor skills in children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) has become a major focus of interest. Our objectives were to provide an overall profile of motor capacities in children with ASD compared to neurotypically developed children through specific tests, and to identify which motor tests best discriminate children with or without ASD. Twenty-two male children with ASD (ASD—10.7 ± 1.3 years) and twenty controls (CONT—10.0 ± 1.6 years) completed an evaluation with 42 motor tests from European Physical Fitness Test Battery (EUROFIT), the Physical and Neurological Exam for Subtle Signs (PANESS) and the Movement Assessment Battery for Children ( M-ABC). However, it was challenging to design a single global classifier to integrate all these features for effective classification due to the issue of small sample size. To this end, we proposed a hierarchical ensemble classification method to combine multilevel classifiers by gradually integrating a large number of features from different motor assessments. In the ASD group, flexibility, explosive power and strength scores (p < 0.01) were significantly lower compared to the control group. Our results also showed significant difficulties in children with ASD for dexterity and ball skills (p < 0.001). The principal component analysis and agglomerative hierarchical cluster analysis allowed for the classification of children based on motor tests, correctly distinguishing clusters between children with and without motor impairments.

Effect of Daily Physical Activity on Sleep Characteristics in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

“…The present study focused on the sleep and physical activities assessments of children with ASD to evaluate the effect of PA level on sleep quality in children with ASD. As already reported by many authors, our results confirmed that children with ASD showed poor sleep indices related to PA level [ 11 , 16 , 18 , 19 , 28 , 29 , 30 ]. The recommended amount of sleep needed for optimal health, as suggested by pediatric experts, is 8 to 10 h of sleep for all children, with or without ASD.…”

“…The recommended amount of sleep needed for optimal health, as suggested by pediatric experts, is 8 to 10 h of sleep for all children, with or without ASD. Nevertheless, some studies have reported shortened total sleep duration associated with difficulty falling asleep, frequent night-time awakening, and early morning awakening in children with ASD [ 4 , 5 , 7 , 29 ]. These sleep disorders occurred in 44% to 83% of children, which represents a major problem for parents [ 4 ].…”

The relationship of the development of motor skills and socioeconomic status of family with BMI of children with autism disorder

“…These results were also in line with previous findings [9,10,17]. Bricout et.al [18] showed that people with autism are different from the control group in motor skills like handicrafts and rolling the ball. It should be noted that children with autism are different from healthy children in motivations and their performance will be weak if they have not enough motivation [19].…”

Physical Fitness and Maternal Psychosocial Status in Children With Autism Attending a Regular Physical Activity Program

“…In the same study, it was shown that the fitness level of children with ASD was not related to income, maternal education, or ethnic origin (Tyler etal., 2014). Previous research indicates that children and/or adolescents with mild to moderate autism have lower fitness parameters (speed, coordination, flexibility, strength, and power) and lower PA levels compared with their TD peers (Bricout etal., 2018; Bricout etal., 2019; Pan etal., 2016; Tyler etal., 2014).…”