HAND PREFERENCE AND HAND SKILL IN CHILDREN WITH AUTISM

Hand preference and hand skill was assessed in two broad age groups of children with autism, children with learning disabilities and control schoolchildren. The first group comprised children ages 3-5 years and the second group of children ages 11-13 years. Degree of handedness r emained relatively stable across age groups, particularly within the a utistic and learning-disabled populations. The main difference was bet ween the subject groups, with the normal controls more lateralized tha n either the children with autism or children with learning disabiliti es. As with degree of handedness, consistency of handedness also diffe red significantly between subject groups with the normal controls more consistent in their hand preference than the other two groups. In add ition, younger children were less consistent in their hand preference than older children. However, the present study found no evidence of a dissociation of hand skill and hand preference in children with autis m compared to children with learning disabilities and normal developin g children.