Motor Development as Risk Indicator

Motor development plays a pivotal role in an infant's overall development and has a cascading effect on social, cognitive, memory, and language ability, which can be compromised when motor development is disrupted early on [1,2,3,4].

Delays and atypical motor development are associated with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), cerebral palsy, and developmental coordination disorder [5,6,7]. Early motor delays may help predict later cognitive performance, and have been linked to communication delays in children at high risk for autism [8,9]. 

While not a diagnostic criteria, early motor delays and atypical motor development have been extensively implicated in infants who later developed ASD [10,11,12,13,14]

The Simons foundation SPARK study  shows that a high proportion (86.9%) of children with ASD are at risk for motor impairment, but only 31.6% of them were receiving physical therapy services. This points to a need for early developmental screening.

References

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[2] Campos JJ, Anderson DI, Barbu-Roth MA, Hubbard EM, Hertenstein MJ, Witherington D. Travel broadens the mind. Infancy. 2000; 1(2):149–219.

[3] Iverson JM. Developing language in a developing body: the relationship between motor development and language development. Journal of Child Language. 2010; 37(2):229–261.

[4] Libertus K, Needham A. Reaching experience increases face preference in 3-month-old infants. Developmental Science. 2011; 14(6):1355–1364. [PubMed: 22010895].

[5] Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Data and statistics for cerebral palsy: prevalence and characteristics. Available at: www.cdc.gov/NCBDDD/cp/data.html.

[6] Estes A, Zwaigenbaum L, Gu H, St John T, Paterson S, Elison J, Hazlett H, Botteron K, Dager SR, Schultz RT, Kostopolos P, Evans A, Dawson G, Eliason J, Alvarez S, Piven J, and the IBIS Network. Behavioral, cognitive, and adaptive development in infants with autism spectrum disorder in the first 2 years.  J Neurodev Disord. 2015;7(1):24. doi: 10.1186/s11689-015-9117-6. Epub 2015 Jul 16.

[7] Blank R, Smits-Engelsman B, Polatajko H, Wilson P. European Academy for Childhood Disability. European Academy for Childhood Disability (EACD): recommendations on the definition, diagnosis and intervention of developmental coordination disorder. Dev Med Child Neurol. 2012;54(1):54–93.

[8] Piek JP, Dawson L, Smith LM, Gasson N. The role of early fine and gross motor development on later motor and cognitive ability. Human Movement Science. 2008; 27(5):668–681.

[9] Bhat AN, Galloway JC, Landa RJ. Relation between early motor delay and later communication delay in infants at-risk for autism. Infant Behavior and Development, Vol 35, Issue 4, pp 838-846, December 2012.

[10] Esposito G, Venuti P, Maestro S, Muratori F. An exploration of symmetry in early autism spectrum disorders: An analysis of lying. Brain and Development: 31., (2), 131–138, 2009.

[11] Esposito G, Venuti P, Apicella F, Muratori F. Analysis of unsupported gait in toddlers with autism. Brain Dev. 33 367-373. 2011.

[12] Flanagan JE, Landa R, Bhat A, Bauman M. (2012). Head lag in infants at-risk of autism: A preliminary study. Am J Occup Ther, Boston, MA doi: 10.5014/ajot.2012.004192.

[13] Teitelbaum P, Teitelbaum O, Nye J, Fryman J, Maurer RG. Movement analysis in infancy may be useful for early diagnosis of autism. doi: 10.1073/pnas.95.23.13982, PNAS November 10, 1998 vol. 95, no. 23 13982-13987.

[14] Zwaigenbaum L, Bryson S, Rogers T, Roberts W, Brian J, Szatmari P. Behavioral manifestations of autism in the first year of life. Int J Dev Neurosci 2005; 23(2-3):143-152.