Tablet Game Assesses Pediatric Visual Motor Skills in Autism

A tablet-based game is feasible for assessing visual motor skills inneurotypical children and those with autism, according to a study published in npj Digital Medicine. Geraldine Dawson, PhD, and colleagues examined the use of a bubble-popping game to assess visual-motor abilities in 233 children aged 1.5-10; 147 were neurotypical and 86 had autism, 32 of whom had co-occurring ADHD (autistic+ADHD). Younger children with autism (1.5-3) popped the bubbles at a lower rate, and their ability to touch the center of the bubble was less accurate than that of neuro-typical children. In addition, their finger lingered for a longer period when they popped a bubble and there was more performance variability. For older children (3-10), greater motor impairment was seen in association with co-occurring ADHD. There were correlations for several motor features with fine motor and cognitive abilities. “This simple yet informative tool has the potential of being deployed at scale to enhance detection and assessment of early autism signs,” Dr. Dawson and colleagues wrote.