Play and Movement in 6-Month-Old Infants Later Diagnosed with Autism: A Pilot Study

ABSTRACT

It is important to identify Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) early to alleviate its developmental impact. This pilot correlational study aimed to identify subtle differences in play and movement in 6-month-old infants that are associated with a later ASD diagnosis through retrospective home video analysis of six children with ASD and nine typically developing (TD) children, who are presently age 3 and older. Videos were coded by researchers blind to the outcome (ASD or TD) using the Revised Knox Preschool Play Scale, Functional Emotional Assessment Scale, TIME atypical positions subtest, and clinical observations. Significant associations between play and movement variables and outcome were found using Chi-square analysis with a Fisher’s exact test. Further research is warranted to examine associations between play and movement variables in infancy and later ASD diagnosis.

KEYWORDS:

• autism
• play
• movement
• early identification
• infants

Acknowledgments

Many thanks to Amanda Jozkowski, PhD, OTR/L for her statistics expertise. Special thanks to the parents who shared their children’s videos with us. Thank you also to Kiersten Sweeney, Stephanie Utz, Katrina Macadoff, and Erika Glendenning, who assisted with data collection at the time of this study.