An exploration of symmetry in early autism spectrum disorders: analysis of lying.
BACKGROUND
Early identification of children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) is recognized as a critical aspect of their medical management and treatment. Movement disorders are considered one of the first signs which probably precede social or linguistic abnormalities.


OBJECTIVE
to verify, through observational methods, the possibility of distinguishing infants with ASD from infants with typical development or with mental retardation by movement.


METHODS
The Eshkol-Wachman movement analysis system, which analyses static symmetry (SS) and dynamic symmetry (DS) during lying, was applied to retrospective home videos regarding the first 5 months of life of children with ASD (n=18), typical development (n=18), or developmental delay (n=12).


RESULTS
Significant differences between ASD and the two control groups were found for both SS (p<.001) and DS (p<.01). Within ASD two groups of infants could be differentiated on the basis of the higher (HLS) or the lower (LLS) levels of symmetry. Early onset ASD are more likely to belong to the LLS group.


CONCLUSIONS
We suggest that motor functioning may define specific subgroups of early ASD which are related to different pathways to the syndrome. LLS could be used as an early indicator of potential autism since the first months of life.
Department of Cognitive Science, University of Trento, Italy. gianluca.esposito@unitn.it
Gianluca
G
Esposito
Paola
P
Venuti
Sandra
S
Maestro
Filippo
F
Muratori
D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001321:Autistic Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D002658:Developmental Disabilities / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008607:Intellectual Disability / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology; D008297:Male; D009068:Movement; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D016683:Supine Position; D014888:Wechsler Scales