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Handedness in autistics, retardates, and normals of a wide age range

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Abstract

Tests of handedness were carried out with 34 autistic children aged from 4 years 10 months to 18 years 11 months, and with sex-, age-, and IQ-matched retardates and sex- and age-matched normals. There were no significant differences between the groups on frequency of handedness, degree of righthand usage, or degree of dominant-hand usage. There was however a significant increase in the variance of dominant-hand usage from normals and retardates to autistics. These results were taken to indicate that earlier reports of handedness differences in young autistic children may reflect a developmental lag rather than a specific etiology of autism. Some support for this hypothesis was found from a comparison of age-trends between the groups. The relationship of such a developmental delay to the etiology of autism was discussed.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Education, University of New South Wales, Australia

    Robert J. Barry & Angela L. James

Authors
  1. Robert J. Barry
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  2. Angela L. James
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Additional information

Our thanks are due to Mr. R. Allen of the Vern-Barnett Diagnostic Teaching Center (Autistic Children's Association of N.S.W.), Mr. A. Allen of Kensington Public School, Mrs. L. Pearce of Evandale Public School, and Mr. K. Higgins of Chalmers Road Public School. Their assistance and that of their respective staffs in providing the bulk of the subjects and background information used in this study is greatly appreciated.

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Barry, R.J., James, A.L. Handedness in autistics, retardates, and normals of a wide age range. J Autism Dev Disord 8, 315–323 (1978). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01539634

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01539634

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