Photo Credit: Lordn

Motor skills and sensory features differ for children with autism with or without attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), according to a study published in the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders. Emily C. Skaletski, MOT, OTR/L, and colleagues conducted an observational study involving 67 children with autism, 43 of whom also with ADHD, to examine differences in motor skills and sensory features among those with and without ADHD. The researchers found that autism and ADHD features drove overall sensory features, seeking, and hyporesponsiveness, while only autism features drove motor skills, enhanced perception, and hyper-responsiveness. These dimensional variables of autism and ADHD features, along with differences in motor skills, sensory, and autism features (but not ADHD features), impacted daily living skills of children with autism; the strongest individual predictors of daily living skills were autism features and motor skills. The researchers emphasized assessing and treating pediatric patients’ motor skills and sensory features.