Psychomotor Profiles in Autism : a Psychomotor Observation Scale

Background: The literature brings heterogeneous elements on the psychomotor development of the autistic children without a real consensus about the psychomotor activity. Most of time the autistic children are assessed with development or behavior scales or functional motor development scales, which do not really let appear the psychomotor domains.

Objectives: First, the objective of this study is to validate a specific scale based on psychomotor concepts, which is created from clinical observations in autistic children. Secondly, the purpose will be to show psychomotor profiles and to analyze their specificities in these children. What are the psychomotor disorders implied in the social interactions impairments in autism? 

Methods:

Patients were recruited in « Centre de Ressources Autisme » of Child Psychiatric Unit of Hospital Ste Marguerite in Marseille (France). 19 children with autism (age mean: 4 years two month old) w ere recruited on the criteria of the DSM-IV-TR and the ADI (Autism Diagnostic Interview).

First, every child is tested with the functional motor development scale of the young children (Vaivre-Douret, 1997) in order to obtain a motor development level. Secondly, children are assessed with a specific scale of the psychomotor skills (a Pervasive Development Disorders Psychomotor Observation Scale: PDDPOS) which is constituted by 4 domains:  motor domain, bodily expressiveness, sensory domain and bodily commitment.

Results:

The results on the functional motor development scale show a global motor delay. The data analysis on the PDDPOS reveals psychomotor specificities. The analysis of different domains shows a significant difference between the motor domain and the bodily expressiveness (p<0.05), and a significant difference between the bodily expressiveness and the bodily commitment (p<0.05).  The performances in the others domains are relatively homogeneous.

Conclusions: Preliminary findings reveal that all the assessed children have a motor delay. The PDDPOS shows psychomotor profiles. Indeed, the bodily expressiveness is better protected than the motor domain or the bodily commitment. In spite of social interactions and communicative impairments, the children keep skills in expression by means of the body.  

We’ll discuss these results according to the perceptive and motor theories. The PDDPOS allows to obtain a more precise analysis of the psychomotor profiles in the autistic children. It brings to light the determinant role which plays the psychomotor examiner in evaluation and in therapy.