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Handedness in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 March 2020

L. Kobylinska ,
C.G. Anghel ,
I. Mihailescu ,
F. Rad  and
I. Dobrescu
C.G. Anghel
Affiliation:
“Prof. Dr. Al. Obregia” Clinical Psychiatry Hospital, Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Bucharest, Romania
I. Mihailescu
Affiliation:
“Prof. Dr. Al. Obregia” Clinical Psychiatry Hospital, Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Bucharest, Romania
F. Rad
Affiliation:
“Prof. Dr. Al. Obregia” Clinical Psychiatry Hospital, Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Bucharest, Romania
I. Dobrescu
Affiliation:
“Prof. Dr. Al. Obregia” Clinical Psychiatry Hospital, Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Bucharest, Romania

Abstract

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Children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) have a less definitive hand preference for certain actions as opposed to neurotypical children. Moreover, left-handedness in children with ASD has been associated with more echolalia. The objective was to conduct a screening of potential risk and associated features for autism spectrum disorders, among which the hand preference of the child. The current aim is to compare the perceived handedness of children with autism spectrum disorders with that of children with other psychiatric pathologies.

Methods

Eight hundred and forty-two parents completed our risk and associated features screening questionnaire. Out of these, 494 answered the question regarding handedness (209 had children diagnosed with ASD). This asked the parents to state how they perceived their child's handedness. An ADOS assessment has been conducted for 170 of the children whose parents were included in the study, based on clinical relevance for the case. The data were analysed using Excel and SPSS 22.0. For the comparisons, Chi2 and the Kruskal–Wallis test were used.

Results

Children with ASD had more left-handedness (χ2(2) = 12.54, P = 0.002). There were no differences between boys and girls in terms of perceived handedness in any of the groups. There were no differences in the ADOS scores according to the perceived hand laterality (χ2(2) = 0.58, P = 0.74).

Conclusion

Rightward-asymmetry in regions of corpus callosum has been reported to correlate with symptoms severity in ASD. The finding of different perceived handedness in children with ASD versus children with other psychiatric pathologies is useful for designing appropriate, individualized training programs for motor therapy.

Disclosure of interest

The authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.

Type
e-poster walk: Child and adolescent psychiatry–Part 3
Information
European Psychiatry , Volume 41 , Issue S1: Abstract of the 25th European Congress of Psychiatry , April 2017 , pp. S214
Copyright
Copyright © European Psychiatric Association 2017
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