19384
Dyspraxia and Autistic Traits in Adults with and without Autism Spectrum Conditions
Objectives: 1) To quantify the prevalence of dyspraxia in a large sample of adults with ASC in comparison to controls; 2) To explore the effect of dyspraxia on autistic traits in ASC and controls.
Methods: 2,871 adults with ASC and 10,706 controls (without ASC) self-reported whether they have been diagnosed with dyspraxia. A sub sample of participants then completed the Autism Spectrum Quotient (AQ; 1,237 ASC and 6,765 controls) and the Empathy Quotient (EQ; 1,148 ASC and 6,676 controls) online through the Autism Research Centre website. Prevalence of dyspraxia was compared between those with and without ASC. AQ and EQ scores were compared across the 4 groups: 1) adults with ASC with dyspraxia; 2) adults with ASC without dyspraxia; 3) controls with dyspraxia; and 4) controls without dyspraxia.
Results: Adults with ASC were significantly more likely to report diagnosis of dyspraxia (7%) than those without ASC (1%) (OR 9, 95% CI 6.7 – 11.2, p<0.001). In the ASC group, those with co-morbid diagnosis of dyspraxia did not have significantly higher AQ (p=.22) or EQ (p=.1) scores than those without co-morbid dyspraxia. However in the control group (without ASC), those with dyspraxia had significantly higher AQ (p<.01) and EQ scores (p<.05) than those without dyspraxia.
Conclusions: Dyspraxia is significantly more prevalent in adults with ASC compared to individuals without ASC, confirming reports that coordination difficulties are significantly more common in this clinical group. Interestingly, in the general population, dyspraxia was associated with significantly higher autistic traits, and with significantly lower empathy. These results suggest that the addition of motor coordination difficulties in ASC does not further impact their high levels of autistic traits. However dyspraxia is associated with high autistic traits in individuals without ASC.