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. 2021 Oct;51(10):3443-3455.
doi: 10.1007/s10803-020-04766-z. Epub 2021 Jan 2.

Shared Features or Co-occurrence? Evaluating Symptoms of Developmental Coordination Disorder in Children and Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Haylie L Miller  1 , Gabriela M Sherrod  2   3 , Joyce E Mauk  4 , Nicholas E Fears  2 , Linda S Hynan  5 , Priscila M Tamplain  6
Affiliations

Shared Features or Co-occurrence? Evaluating Symptoms of Developmental Coordination Disorder in Children and Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Haylie L Miller et al. J Autism Dev Disord. 2021 Oct.

Abstract

Motor differences are common in Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), but rarely evaluated against diagnostic criteria for Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD). We aimed to determine whether motor problems in ASD represent the possible co-occurrence of DCD. We retrospectively reviewed standardized assessments and parent-reports to evaluate motor ability in 43 individuals with ASD against diagnostic criteria for DCD, and compared to 18 individuals with DCD. Over 97% of cases in the ASD group scored below the 16th percentile in motor ability, with most below the 5th percentile. Over 90% of cases in the ASD group met criteria for co-occurring DCD. Motor challenges are a clinically-significant problem in ASD; systematically assessing the prevalence of co-occurring ASD + DCD is necessary to optimize assessment and intervention.

Keywords: Autism spectrum disorder; Comorbidity; Developmental coordination disorder; Motor control; Neurodevelopmental disorder.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of interest The IRBs determined that the study team had no conflicts of interest as part of annual reporting and review procedures

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Scatterplot of MABC-2 total scores and DCD-Q score by group (ASD = 37, DCD = 18), with overlaid horizontal cutoff lines for the MABC-2 Red Zone (5th percentile or below; DCD likely; score of 56 or lower; red solid line) and Green Zone (16th percentile or above; DCD unlikely; score of 68 or higher; green dashed line), and dashed vertical lines for the DCD-Q cutoff scores indicative of DCD for ages 5:0–7:11 (< 47), 8:0–9:11 (< 56) and 10:0 and older (< 58). The MABC-2 Amber Zone (6th-15th percentile; Monitor for DCD, score of 57–67) falls between the Red and Green zones; 6 participants with ASD from the total sample are not represented on this graph because they do not have DCD-Q scores and/or MABC-2 scores–of the 4 with MABC-2 scores, 1 scored in the Amber Zone and 3 scored in the Red Zone
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
a-c Scatterplot of MABC-2 total scores and DCD-Q score by group (ASD/DCD), with overlaid horizontal cutoff lines for the MABC-2 Red Zone (5th percentile or below; DCD likely; score of 56 or lower; red solid line) and Green Zone (16th percentile or above; DCD unlikely; score of 68 or higher; green dashed line). Dashed vertical lines are overlaid in panels a-c for the DCD-Q cutoff scores indicative of DCD for ages a 5:0–7:11 (< 47), b 8:0–9:11 (< 56) and c 10:0 and older (< 58). The MABC-2 Amber Zone (6th-15th percentile; Monitor for DCD, score of 57–67) falls between the Red and Green zones; 6 participants with ASD from the total sample are not represented in these figures because they do not have DCD-Q scores and/or MABC-2 scores–of the 4 with MABC-2 scores, 1 scored in the Amber Zone and 3 scored in the Red Zone
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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