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Is clumsiness a marker for Asperger syndrome?
Author(s) -
GHAZIUDDIN M.,
BUTLER E.,
TSAI L.,
GHAZIUDDIN N.
Publication year - 1994
Publication title -
journal of intellectual disability research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.941
H-Index - 104
eISSN - 1365-2788
pISSN - 0964-2633
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2788.1994.tb00440.x
Subject(s) - autism , psychology , asperger syndrome , developmental disorder , audiology , pervasive developmental disorder , intelligence quotient , high functioning autism , clinical psychology , developmental psychology , psychiatry , cognition , autism spectrum disorder , medicine
ABSTRACT. Although Asperger syndrome (AS) has been included in the ICD‐10 as a distinct category within the pervasive developmental disorders, it is still unclear to what extent it differs from normal‐intelligence autism (high‐functioning autism; HFA). Persons with AS are said to be particularly clumsy. To test the hypothesis that clumsiness can reliably distinguish AS from autism, the present authors compared 11 patients with AS (ICD‐10; 10 males; mean age, 13–6 years; mean IQ, 98) with nine patients with HFA (ICD‐10/DSM‐III‐R; eight males; mean age, 12–9 years; mean IQ, 84). Clumsiness was assessed by the Bruininks‐Oseretsky test. Both groups showed problems with coordination and the distribution of standard scores was virtually identical. This suggests that motor clumsiness, as measured by tests of coordination, may not reliably distinguish AS from HFA. However, qualitative differences may occur between the two groups in the manner in which movements are performed. Further research with larger samples may elicit differences into the pattern of motor deficits that occur in autism and AS.