Many Moving Parts: A Motor-Based Perspective on Developmental Speech and Language Research in Neurodevelopmental Disorders

Research interest in the motor skills of children with neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs) such as autism spectrum disorder and developmental language disorder is growing, for purposes including the prediction of language outcomes. Gross, fine, and oral motor skills are each associated with language development. However, research within these motor domains has largely proceeded along separate paths, with few studies examining how they codevelop and interact with language in children with NDDs. We propose that a unified developmental framework integrating these motor domains could enhance the prediction of language outcomes and the characterization of diverse clinical populations.