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Motor imitation abilities and neurological signs in autistic children

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Abstract

Autistic children were compared with chronological and mental agematched normal children on two tests of motor imitation and on the Herzig Battery for Non-Focal Neurological Signs. The results indicated that autistic children have significant handicaps in the neurodevelopmental area, with very poor performance on motor imitation tasks and a universal and significant excess of soft signs of neurological dysfunction. Such “dyspraxias” may underlie the failure of these chlidren to learn to use gesture.

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Jones, V., Prior, M. Motor imitation abilities and neurological signs in autistic children. J Autism Dev Disord 15, 37–46 (1985). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01837897

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