Longitudinal development of language and fine motor skills is correlated, but not coupled, in a childhood atypical cohort

Childhood language development and alexithymia in adolescence: an 8-year longitudinal study

Alexithymia (difficulties identifying and describing feelings) predicts increased risks for psychopathology, especially during the transition from childhood to adolescence. However, little is known of the early contributors to alexithymia. The language hypothesis of alexithymia suggests that language deficits play a primary role in predisposing language-impaired groups to developing alexithymia; yet longitudinal data tracking prospective relationship between language function and alexithymia are scarce. Leveraging data from the Surrey Communication and Language in Education cohort (N = 229, mean age at time point 1 = 5.32 years, SD = 0.29, 51.1% female), we investigated the prospective link between childhood language development and alexithymic traits in adolescence. Results indicated that boys with low language function at ages 4-5 years, and those who later met the diagnostic criteria for language disorders at ages 5-6 years, reported elevated alexithymic traits when they reached adolescence. Parent-reported child syntax abilities at ages 5-6 years revealed a dimensional relationship with alexithymic traits, and this was consistent with behavioral assessments on related structural language abilities. Empirically derived language groups and latent language trajectories did not predict alexithymic traits in adolescence. While findings support the language hypothesis of alexithymia, greater specificity of the alexithymia construct in developmental populations is needed to guide clinical interventions.

Object Exploration and Manipulation in Infants at Typical vs. Elevated Likelihood for ASD: A Review

The present review considers the growing body of literature on fine motor skills in infants at elevated genetic likelihood (EL) for autism spectrum disorder (ASD). This area of study aims to identify crucial motor markers associated with the disorder, facilitating earlier and more accurate identification of ASD, using various experimental methodologies, including standardized assessments, observational measures, and technological tools. The reviewed evidence revealed distinct developmental trajectories in EL infants, marked by differences in fine motor skills and exploratory behaviors compared to typically developing infants. We discuss the developmental trajectory of fine motor skills in infants and their predictive value for later ASD diagnosis, highlighting the significance of fine motor skills as early indicators of ASD risk in infants and emphasizing the need for further research to elucidate their predictive value and underlying mechanisms.

Beyond words: an investigation of fine motor skills and the verbal communication spectrum in autism

Introduction

This study investigated the associations between fine motor skills and expressive verbal abilities in a group of 97 autistic participants (age 8-17, mean=12.41) and 46 typically developing youth (age 8-17, mean=12.48).

Methods

Participants completed assessments of motor and verbal communication skills, including finger tapping speed, grooved pegboard, grip strength, visual-motor integration tasks, and measures of speech and communication skills. ASD group performance on motor tests was compared to controls. Non-parametric tests were used to analyze group differences and correlations between motor and verbal communication skills. Based on prior research, we hypothesized that individuals on the autism spectrum would exhibit deficits in fine motor speed, dexterity, pencil motor control, but not manual motor strength. Additionally, we expected that impaired fine motor skills would be linked to poorer performance on standardized measures of verbal abilities.

Results

The results indicated that 80% of autistic participants demonstrated an impairment on at least one measure of motor skills, and as a group, they exhibited significantly poorer fine motor performance compared to the non-ASD group in dominant hand finger tapping speed, bilateral fine motor dexterity measured via the grooved pegboard task, and pencil motor coordination and visual-motor integration measured on the Beery-Buktenica Developmental Test of Visual-Motor Integration-Sixth Edition. Moreover, impaired fine motor skills were associated with poorer performance on standardized clinical measures of verbal abilities, including articulation errors, receptive and expressive language and vocabulary, rapid naming, oromotor sequencing, and parent reported functional communication skills and social communication symptoms.

Discussion

Overall,our findings suggest there is a high prevalence of fine motor impairments in ASD, and these impairments were associated with a range of verbal abilities. Further research is warranted to better understand the underlying mechanisms of these associations and develop targeted interventions to address both fine motor and verbal impairments in ASD.

Associations between early language, motor abilities, and later autism traits in infants with typical and elevated likelihood of autism

Slower acquisition of language and motor milestones are common in infants with later autism and studies have indicated that motor skills predict the rate of language development, suggesting these domains of development may be interlinked. However, the inter-relationships between the two domains over development and emerging autistic traits are not fully established. We studied language and motor development using standardized observational and parent-report measures in infants with (n = 271) and without (n = 137) a family history of autism across four waves of data collection from 10 to 36 months. We used Random Intercept Cross-Lagged Panel Models to examine contemporaneous and longitudinal associations between language and motor developments in both elevated and typical likelihood groups. We estimated paths between language and motor abilities at 10, 14, 24, and 36 months and autism trait scores at 36 months, to test whether the domains were interrelated and how they related to emerging autism traits. Results revealed consistent bidirectional Expressive Language (EL) and Fine Motor (FM) cross-lagged effects from 10 to 24 and a unidirectional EL to FM effect from 24 to 36 months as well as significantly correlated random intercepts between Gross motor (GM) and Receptive language (RL), indicating stable concurrent associations over time. However, only the associations between GM and RL were associated with later autism traits. Early motor and language are linked, but only gross motor and receptive language are jointly associated with autistic traits in infants with an autism family history.