A Longitudinal Analysis of the Relationships Between Social, Communication, and Motor Skills Among Students with Autism

W. C. Cheung, H. Meadan, Y. Xia

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Many students with autism have difficulties engaging with their classroom environments and forming friendships, which are mostly affected by deficits in social, communication, and motor skills. The Special Education Elementary Longitudinal Study (SEELS, 2000) data set was used, focusing on elementary age students with autism, to explore the longitudinal relationships between social, communication, and motor skills and the mediating role of motor skills in between communication and social skills by using structural equational modeling analyses. Results show that (a) motor skills mediate the relationship between communication and social skills in elementary school, (b) there are significant longitudinal relationships among these skills in elementary school. Increased motor skills may improve social skills for students with autism in elementary school.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)4505-4518
Number of pages14
JournalJournal of Autism and Developmental Disorders
Volume52
Issue number10
DOIs
StatePublished - Oct 2022

Keywords

  • Autism
  • Communication
  • Motor
  • SEELS
  • Social

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Developmental and Educational Psychology

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'A Longitudinal Analysis of the Relationships Between Social, Communication, and Motor Skills Among Students with Autism'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this