Investigation of the relationship between different functional skills in children diagnosed with mild autism and comparison with typically developing children

Background and Aim: The aim of this study was to evaluate various functional skills; such as hand dexterity speed, functional balance abilities, and upper extremity visual and auditory reaction times, in children diagnosed with mild autism; to examine the relationships among these skills; and to compare the findings with those of typically developing children. Material and Methods: The study was conducted with 27 children diagnosed with mild autism in the autism spectrum disorder group and 35 typically developing children in the typically developing group. All participants were between 7 and 10 years old. The 9-Hole Peg Test was used to measure hand skill speed, the Timed Up and Go Test and the Pediatric Balance Scale were used to assess functional balance, and the Light Trainer V3 device was used to measure upper extremity visual and auditory reaction times. Results: In hand skill speed measurements, children with ASD performed more slowly with both hands (p<0,05). In the Timed Up and Go Test, the ASD group was also slower (p<0,001). On the Pediatric Balance Scale, the ASD group showed poorer performance compared to the typically developing group (p=0,048). In the upper extremity visual reaction time assessment, the longest reaction times recorded with the preferred hand were observed in the ASD group (p=0,013), while similar performance was noted with the non-preferred hand. Task completion time was significantly longer in the ASD group (p<0,001). In the upper extremity auditory reaction time assessment, both groups had similar response times with both hands (p>0,05). However, in the preferred hand, the average and longest response times and task completion duration were significantly longer in the ASD group (p<0,05), and they made more errors when estimating the location of the stimulus (p=0,002). In the non-preferred hand, the average and longest auditory reaction times were also higher in the ASD group (p<0,05), although both groups made a similar number of errors in stimulus localization (p>0,05). Positive correlations ranging from moderate to strong were found between both visual and auditory upper extremity reaction time parameters and the 9-Hole Peg Test and the Timed Up and Go Test, while negative correlations ranging from moderate to strong were found between reaction time parameters and the Pediatric Balance Scale (p<0,05) Conclusion: Children with mild autism show more difficulty in hand skills and functional balance compared to their typically developing peers. On average, they respond to light stimuli as quickly as their peers, but they react more slowly to sound stimuli and make more mistakes in guessing where the sound is coming from. Hand skills and balance abilities were found to be related to how well they react to light and sound with their upper limbs. Therefore, improving reaction skills to light and sound during rehabilitation may help support the development of hand and balance skills in children with mild autism. Keywords: Autism spectrum disorder, reaction time, motor skills, visual stimulation, auditory stimulation