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Meta-Analysis
. 2019 Nov;90(6):2053-2070.
doi: 10.1111/cdev.13086. Epub 2018 May 15.

Infant Motor Development in Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Synthesis and Meta-analysis

Kelsey L West  1
Affiliations
Meta-Analysis

Infant Motor Development in Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Synthesis and Meta-analysis

Kelsey L West. Child Dev. 2019 Nov.

Abstract

Studies of infant motor development in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have increased in recent years. This article synthesized this literature through meta-analysis to assess (a) whether infant motor ability differs in ASD relative to neurotypical controls; and (b) whether motor ability and communication are related in infants with ASD. Study 1 aggregated data from 1,953 infants with ASD (ages 3.0-42.0 months), and Study 2 included 890 infants with ASD (age 6.0-42.9 months). Study 1 revealed that infant motor ability differed significantly in ASD compared with neurotypical infants-this difference was robust to variation in measurement and design. Furthermore, this group difference amplified as age increased. Study 2 indicated that within ASD, infant motor ability and communication are related.

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