Impaired imitation of skilled gestures is commonly reported in autism.
Questions, however, remain as to whether impaired imitation is associated
with a more generalized deficit in performance of gestures consistent with
a dyspraxia and whether the pattern of errors differs from that observed
in typically developing children. To address these questions, praxis in 21
high-functioning children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) was
compared with 24 typically developing controls using a traditional
approach in which performance was evaluated through detailed examination
of error types. Children with ASD produced significantly fewer correct
responses not only during Gesture to Imitation, but also during Gesture to
Command and with Tool Use. The pattern of errors in ASD was similar to
that of controls with spatial errors being most common in both groups;
however, body-part-for-tool errors were more common in children with ASD,
suggesting dyspraxia is not entirely attributable to motor deficits. The
findings suggest that autism is associated with a generalized praxis
deficit, rather than a deficit specific to imitation. In a developmental
disorder such as autism, the findings may reflect abnormalities in
frontal/parietal–subcortical circuits important for acquisition
(i.e., learning) of sensory representations of movement and/or the
motor sequence programs necessary to execute them. (JINS, 2006,
12, 314–326.)