Gross Motor Performance by Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder and Typically Developing Children on TGMD-2

Objective: To examine the gross motor skill performance using the Test of Gross Motor Development-2 (TGMD- 2) on children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and their age matched peers (5-10 years). Methods: A total of 21 children with ASD (M=7.57 years) and 21 age matched typically developing children (M=7.38 years) participated in this study. TGMD-2 is a standardized test to assess 12 gross motor skills for children. All study participants completed the TGMD-2 assessments. A MANOVA was conducted on TGMD-2 scores to compare motor performance of children with ASD and typically developing children. Results: For the locomotor subtest, 67% children with ASD received poor standard scores and 40% of scores were very poor. About 60% children with ASD had poor standard scores and 33% of scores were very poor on object control skills as described in the TGMD-2 manual. For overall gross motor quotient scores, 81% children with ASD were below 79 and classified as poor and about 76% children scored below 70 and received very poor rating. A MANOVA analysis revealed significant performance difference between children with ASD and typically developing children (p<.01). The effect sizes (ES) describing motor delays of the study participants between the two groups were large (>.80). Conclusion and implication: For educators, therapists, and practitioners, it is important to note that children across the autism spectrum showed significant delays in gross motor skill performance when compared to their age matched peers. Locomotion and object control skills are fundamental motor skills in which children interact with their environment and other children. Developing a therapeutic intervention includes those gross motor skills may positively impact children with ASD's movement competence.