Motor Skills

Individuals with autism often demonstrate some difficulties in the areas of balance, coordination, muscle strength, muscle tone, and hand-eye coordination. Motor difficulties include both fine and gross motor problems.

An individual with fine motor difficulties:

• May present with poor pencil skills such as difficulty printing, colouring, and drawing.
• May need help with dressing including buttons, zippers, shoelaces or self-care in the washroom.
• May find opening containers, such as a juice or lunch box, challenging.

Individuals with gross motor difficulties:

• Are often seen as being clumsy, awkward in their movements and having poor muscle strength.

Muscular strength (the ability to exert muscles against resistance) and endurance (ability to repeatedly contract a muscle) develop during childhood and adolescence. Children begin to develop strength and endurance by climbing on the jungle gym, swinging from the bars and just running around. Balance and coordination develop in the same fashion through simple to more complex play, games and sports. It is difficult for children with ASD who don"t have the same play experiences as other children to develop and refine basic running, kicking, throwing, catching, climbing, jumping and swinging skills – the building blocks for more complex sporting activities. This in turn makes it hard for them to build confidence and join other kids in recreational activities.