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. 2016 Sep;9(9):993-1001.
doi: 10.1002/aur.1587. Epub 2015 Dec 22.

Early gross motor skills predict the subsequent development of language in children with autism spectrum disorder

Rachael Bedford  1 , Andrew Pickles  2 , Catherine Lord  3
Affiliations

Early gross motor skills predict the subsequent development of language in children with autism spectrum disorder

Rachael Bedford et al. Autism Res. 2016 Sep.

Abstract

Background: Motor milestones such as the onset of walking are important developmental markers, not only for later motor skills but also for more widespread social-cognitive development. The aim of the current study was to test whether gross motor abilities, specifically the onset of walking, predicted the subsequent rate of language development in a large cohort of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD).

Methods: We ran growth curve models for expressive and receptive language measured at 2, 3, 5 and 9 years in 209 autistic children. Measures of gross motor, visual reception and autism symptoms were collected at the 2 year visit. In Model 1, walking onset was included as a predictor of the slope of language development. Model 2 included a measure of non-verbal IQ and autism symptom severity as covariates. The final model, Model 3, additionally covaried for gross motor ability.

Results: In the first model, parent-reported age of walking onset significantly predicted the subsequent rate of language development although the relationship became non-significant when gross motor skill, non-verbal ability and autism severity scores were included (Models 2 & 3). Gross motor score, however, did remain a significant predictor of both expressive and receptive language development.

Conclusions: Taken together, the model results provide some evidence that early motor abilities in young children with ASD can have longitudinal cross-domain influences, potentially contributing, in part, to the linguistic difficulties that characterise ASD. Autism Res 2016, 9: 993-1001. © 2015 The Authors Autism Research published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of International Society for Autism Research.

Keywords: autism spectrum disorder; language development; walking.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
GCM for receptive language (RL) at four visits from 2 to 9 years, with the latent intercept and slope variables regressed on walking onset.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Gross motor ability predicts rate of receptive and expressive language growth between 2 and 9 years of age in children with ASD.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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