Motor function in children with autism: Why is this relevant to psychologists?

Over the last decade, researchers have continued to make breakthroughs in understanding the clinical significance of motor symptoms in neurodevelopmental disorders, in particular, autism. With funding now available for assessment and therapy via the Federal Government's “Helping Children with Autism” initiative, there is an increased need for clinicians to have access to the latest research evidence which may both inform, and expedite the diagnostic process to ensure that this most vulnerable population is referred for timely interventions and therapies. This paper focuses on the importance of neuromotor impairment to the clinical conceptualisation of autism. There are three key ways in which motor function may be useful for improving our clinical and neurobiological understanding of autism: (a) as a quantifiable and pervasive feature of autism that may reflect a diagnostic marker; (b) as an endophenotype, for the identification of underlying genetic loci of impairment; and (c) as a potential “proxy” marker of degree and nature of social-communicative impairment. With the impending move towards neurobiological models of psychological disorder classification, motor as well as cognitive symptoms are beginning to matter to psychologists.