Interceptive abilities in autism spectrum disorder: Comparing naturalistic and virtual visuomotor tasks

A growing body of research reveals that autistic individuals exhibit motor coordination challenges. Multiple theoretical frameworks propose that the seemingly disparate features of autism may arise from a common underlying process: a diminished ability to make predictions. Sensorimotor skills, such as catching a ball, critically rely on predicting the ball's trajectory as well as anticipatory coordination of the entire body. Here, we assessed four different naturalistic and virtual interception tasks with 31 neurotypical and 23 autistic children (ages 7–12). In a naturalistic setting, participants caught the ball either with their hands or a hand-held funnel with an enlarged catch area that also prevented the ball from bouncing off. A virtual setup reduced whole-body demands, as children only moved a paddle to catch or bounce a ball on a screen. Control tasks, involving rapid reaching to grasp a static object and quiet standing, which largely eliminated the requirements for prediction, were also tested. Results from all task variations demonstrated that autistic children completed fewer successful interceptions, suggesting that predictive requirements, inherent to all interception tasks, played a critical role. Effect sizes in the virtual tasks were smaller. Correlations of the task metrics with behavioral assessments rendered the strongest correlations with Praxis scores. The control tasks showed no differences between autistic and neurotypical children. These findings lend support to the emerging hypothesis that predictive challenges are present in autism. Further research with larger sample sizes will help identify to what extent these visuomotor differences may inform core domains of autism.