Motor skills and autism

Categorized under "Things that make you say, 'Duh,' in the morning"--Autism is apparently linked to motor skills problems.

Really?

I guess now I can call the phys ed teacher at TH's school and tell him that. TH, who has notable upper-body weakness, hypotonia, all the things that parents of autistic kids know well, was "disqualified" from some fitness tests this week. Not the part that involves using the legs--his are strong and long--but the part that requires pushups and pullups. Couldn't do a single one. So, he told me, his phys ed teacher told him, "You're disqualified."

Add to that his fine motor issues, which include his persistence in using a fisted grasp with pencil. Add to that his hypermobility--women in Hollywood would pay millions to have his collagen--and you've got a kid who's all angles and awkwardness.

His writing almost halfway through third grade is almost completely illegible. I look at the writing sample pictured in the story and think, "Hmmph. That's nothing." I should send in some of TH's handiwork. It's become especially entertaining now that he's chosen to write backwards, a la Leonardo Da Vinci. I've included a sample of his forward writing from this week for illustrative purposes.

"These kids are going to get picked last for kickball," quoth one of the experts in the article. Not only that, but these kids are not going to be able to swing on their own even in third grade. They're going to wander around the playground alone at recess because they can't play basketball or football. "The motor component probably makes things worse," the expert further quoth.

Um, yep.

There's also this from the piece:

Other researchers say motor skills may offer a way to help spot children with autism as early as the first few months of life.

A study of babies who were later diagnosed as autistic were late reaching milestones such as sitting up, standing on their own and walking, says Dr. Sarah Spence, a pediatric neurologist at the National Institute of Mental Health who helped conduct the study.

TH did have these delays, but we ascribed it to his being an unusually large child with an unusually large head. Little Da had even more significant delays. His fine motor skills now are, however, relatively fantastic, right down to a near-tripod grasp of pencils and an ability to zip his own pants and put straws into individual milk boxes. Dubya has always been all tripod, all the way. He falls flat on his face all the time, we but think that's because he forgets to turn off his anti-gravity servos when he returns to Earth from Planet Dub.

So, for how many of you parents or autistic adults is the headline, "Writing Study Ties Autism to Motor-Skill Problems" a duh moment for you, too?