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Motor Signs Distinguish Children with High Functioning Autism and Asperger’s Syndrome from Controls

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Abstract

While many studies of motor control in autism have focused on specific motor signs, there has been a lack of research examining the complete range of subtle neuromotor signs. This study compared performance on a neurologic examination standardized for children (PANESS, Physical and Neurological Exam for Subtle Signs, Denckla [1974 Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology, 16(6), 729–741]) between a group of 40 boys aged 6–17 with autism and average range IQs and a group of 55 typically developing boys. The Autism group was shown to have significant impairment on several measures of motor control compared to the Control group. Regression analyses revealed that a model including four PANESS variables offered a high level of discrimination in distinguishing boys with high-functioning autism from controls.

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by grants from the National Alliance for Autism Research, the Rita Rudel Foundation, CDC U10/CCU320408 (to CJN) and NIH: K08 NS02039, K02 NS44850, and R01 NS048527 (to SHM), K01MH01824 (to MCG), DAM D17-00-1-0548, P30 HD240614P50, NS 353359, MH 52432R29, and P01 HD35468

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA, USA

    Eva M. Jansiewicz

  2. Department of Psychiatry, Kennedy Krieger Institute, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA

    Melissa C. Goldberg & Rebecca Landa

  3. Johns Hopkins University School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA

    Craig J. Newschaffer

  4. Departments of Neurology, Psychiatry, and Pediatrics, Kennedy Krieger Institute, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA

    Martha B. Denckla

  5. Departments of Neurology and Psychiatry, Kennedy Krieger Institute, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, 707 N. Broadway, Ste. 516, Baltimore, MD, USA

    Stewart H. Mostofsky

Authors
  1. Eva M. Jansiewicz
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  2. Melissa C. Goldberg
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  3. Craig J. Newschaffer
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  4. Martha B. Denckla
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  5. Rebecca Landa
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  6. Stewart H. Mostofsky
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Correspondence to Stewart H. Mostofsky.

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Jansiewicz, E.M., Goldberg, M.C., Newschaffer, C.J. et al. Motor Signs Distinguish Children with High Functioning Autism and Asperger’s Syndrome from Controls. J Autism Dev Disord 36, 613–621 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-006-0109-y

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