Brief Report: Postural Balance and Daily Living Skills in Children and Adolescents with Autism.
Aubrey Fisher, Courtney Engel, Robyn Geist and 3 others
PMID 29616483WHAT IT FOUND
Postural balance predicted daily living skills only in children with ASD and IQs of 104 or lower.
For those with IQs above 104, balance scores showed no relation to daily living performance, suggesting higher-IQ individuals may already use strategies to compensate for balance challenges.
Key findings
01A significant positive relation between balance and daily living skills was found only in the below-median IQ group (IQ <= 104), but not in the above-median IQ group.
02Balance scores themselves did not differ significantly between the below-median and above-median IQ groups.
03The authors suggest that individuals with higher IQ may use cognitive or behavioral strategies to manage balance challenges during daily tasks.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTsWhat it means for OTs
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What it does not show
The study used a parent-report measure for daily living skills that assessed general performance across many tasks, rather than specifically evaluating tasks that require balance. The design was cross-sectional, so it cannot determine if balance training actually improves daily living skills. The sample excluded individuals with co-occurring intellectual disability, limiting generalizability to that population. The authors did not directly observe or measure the compensatory strategies they hypothesize higher-IQ individuals are using.
Declared interests
All authors declared no conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume that balance deficits cause daily living skill difficulties in all children with ASD. The link was only present in children with IQs of 104 or lower. For children with higher IQs, balance scores had no relation to daily living performance, suggesting they may already be compensating effectively.