Comparison of Sensory-Motor and Cognitive Function Between Autism and Asperger's Syndrome in Preschool Children

by Ryoichiro Iwanaga, Chisato Kawasaki, and Reiko Tsuchidaz . Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 30, 2000 p169-174.

The Japanese version of the Miller Assessment for Preschoolers (IMAP) is a standardized test, which assesses not only cognitive and verbal but sensory-motor function, and focuses on preschool age children ranging in age from 33 to 74 months .

This study reveals differences in sensory-motor, verbal, and cognitive functions between AS and HPA preschoolers. The fact that AS is significantly lower in Foundation index scores than HFA (all AS children scored below 5%) indicates that sensory-motor dysfunction might be more common in children with AS than HFA in early childhood. Among item scores, although there were no items in the Foundation or Coordination index sharply distinguishing AS from HFA, in Standing Balance and Walks Line (tandem walking) most children who fell down had AS, suggesting that children with AS suffer an impairment of a basic component of movement while standing. This may perhaps explain reports of AS children showing a stiff or awkward way of walking (Gillberg, 1989) and odd posture (Burgoine & Wing, 1983).

In our present study, although HFA children with sensory-motor dysfunction were fewer than among AS children, 66% of them also had disorders in the sensory-motor area. This suggested that motor impairment might occur not only in children with AS but also in most with HFA. For this reason, clumsiness cannot serve as a diagnostic feature to distinguish AS from AS from autism.