Attention and sensory integration for gait in young adults with autism spectrum disorder.
Natalie A Bick, Mark S Redfern, J Richard Jennings and 3 others
PMID 38749292WHAT IT FOUND
No overall gait difference appeared between adults with autism and neurotypical adults.
However, those with autism shortened steps during both reaction tasks, while controls shortened only during the choice task, and varied more on carpet.
Key findings
01During auditory reaction tasks, adults with ASD shortened their steps for both simple and choice tasks, while neurotypical adults shortened steps only during the choice task.
02On carpet, adults with ASD had greater step length variability than neurotypical adults in both lighting conditions.
03There were no main group effects on any gait characteristics.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTs
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What it does not show
Only 21 adults with ASD and 21 neurotypical adults were tested, so a real group difference could have been missed. The ASD group had average to above average IQ and fluent expressive language, so findings may not apply to people with more severe autism or limited language. No overall group differences were found in gait or reaction time, so the significant findings are limited to specific task and surface conditions.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that adults with autism have impaired gait or that gait training is needed. The groups did not differ in overall gait, and the differences appeared only for step length during reaction tasks and step length variability on carpet in a small sample of adults with average to above average IQ and fluent language.