Movement difficulties in children with neurodevelopmental disorders: considering a transdiagnostic approach to classification.

Researchers studied movement skills in 175 children with autism, coordination disorders, ADHD, and intellectual disabilities. They found that children's movement abilities grouped into four patterns regardless of their diagnosis. Most conditions showed similar movement patterns, except children with intellectual disabilities who more often had poor movement skills. This suggests focusing on actual movement abilities rather than just diagnosis labels might help better support children.

This study examined movement difficulties across different neurodevelopmental conditions using a transdiagnostic approach. Researchers analyzed movement data from 175 children aged 4-15 years with autism, developmental coordination disorder, ADHD, and intellectual disability using the Movement Assessment Battery for Children. Clustering analysis revealed four distinct movement profiles: poor skills, relatively adept skills, good aiming/catching only, and borderline poor skills. Children from different diagnostic groups were distributed fairly equally across these movement clusters, with only intellectual disability showing concentration in the poor-performing cluster.

This suggests that movement difficulties may be better understood through shared motor profiles rather than traditional diagnostic categories.

Results support developing intervention approaches based on movement skill profiles rather than diagnostic labels alone. This transdiagnostic approach could enhance service delivery efficiency and effectiveness by grouping children with similar movement needs regardless of their primary diagnosis.

Single study design without longitudinal follow-up. Sample sizes varied considerably across diagnostic groups. Movement assessment limited to one standardized tool. No comparison with typically developing children reported.

Children with neurodevelopmental disorders often experience difficulties in acquiring and executing movement skills. Although the motor profiles of neurodivergent children frequently overlap, rigid conceptual distinctions between diagnostic labels have been imposed by traditional categorical approaches to taxonomy. An alternative transdiagnostic approach is proposed to better represent the similarities between presentations. Movement Assessment Battery for Children (2nd Edition) data were available for children (4-15 years) diagnosed with autism ( = 59), developmental coordination disorder ( = 75), attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder ( = 19), and intellectual disability ( = 22).

Iterative agglomerative hierarchical and-means clustering were performed alongside mean comparisons to contrast conceptually distinct neurodevelopmental disorders against data-driven arrangements of motor profiles. A four-cluster solution reflected children whose movement skills were (i) poor, (ii) adept relative to the total sample, (iii) adept only in aiming and catching, and (iv) borderline poor. The distribution of neurodevelopmental disorders was largely equal across clusters, with only intellectual disability occurring in the poor performing cluster at a rate above chance. Clusters were driven by similarities in movement skill that were not aligned with diagnostic distinctions, supporting a transdiagnostic conceptualisation of movement difficulties.

Implications are discussed with reference to opportunities for enhanced service models under a transdiagnostic approach.