Fine Motor Ability and Executive Function in Autistic and Non-autistic Toddlers.
Amanda Platner, Ellen A Doernberg, Sarah R Edmunds and 1 others
PMID 39953319WHAT IT FOUND
Autistic toddlers showed more difficulty with inhibition and shifting than non-autistic peers, but working memory was similar.
Better fine motor skills predicted better shifting in all children, regardless of diagnosis. This suggests fine motor delays may limit the flexible exploration needed for shifting development.
Key findings
01Autistic toddlers had greater caregiver-reported challenges with inhibition and shifting compared to non-autistic peers, after controlling for cognitive level, but no significant differences were found in working memory, emotional control, or planning.
02Fine motor ability significantly predicted shifting skills in both autistic and non-autistic toddlers, explaining about 20 percent of the variance, but did not predict inhibition, emotional control, working memory, or planning.
03The relationship between fine motor ability and shifting did not differ significantly between autistic and non-autistic groups.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for OTsWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
The study used a concurrent design, so it cannot determine if fine motor skills cause better shifting, or if they simply develop together. The sample was small (49 children) and likely underpowered, making the results exploratory. Executive function was measured only by parent report, which may be influenced by the child's overall behavior or the parent's perspective, rather than direct testing of the child's abilities. The autistic group had significantly lower overall cognitive scores than the non-autistic group, which complicates the comparison, although researchers attempted to control for this statistically.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume that improving fine motor skills will directly improve executive function or shifting. This study shows an association, not causation, and the results are exploratory due to the small sample size and reliance on parent-reported executive function measures.