The Association Between Motor and Social Skills in Young Autistic Children Enrolled in the Study to Explore Early Development

Abstract

Motor difficulties are common in autistic individuals and may contribute to challenges in social development. Understanding the association between motor and social skills could inform interventions to improve developmental outcomes. Using data from the Study to Explore Early Development—a large, diverse sample of rigorously characterized preschool-aged autistic children in the United States—we aimed to (a) describe the frequency of motor challenges using multiple standardized instruments; and (b) evaluate associations between motor and social skills. Children were identified from health and education organizations and birth records. Caregivers completed standardized interviews and questionnaires, and children completed comprehensive developmental evaluations to determine autism status. Among 2,039 children meeting the study autism criteria, 67.3% exhibited motor scores ⩾2 standard deviations below the mean on at least one measure. Motor difficulties were more prevalent in the fine motor (up to 63.4%) than gross motor (14.2%) domain and among children with significant visual reception delays (up to 92.8%) than those without these delays (up to 32.0%). After adjusting for covariates, fine motor skills were significantly associated with social challenges in both functional and autism-specific domains. These findings highlight the importance of motor development in early autism evaluations.