"Teaching Motor Skills to Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders" by Teri Todd
I am currently looking into the different dance teaching approaches for children on the autistic spectrum. In order to better inform my enquiry I feel that it is necessary for me to have a deeper understanding of the problems that some autistic children face in learning dance. Generalized motor deficits are common in ASD (Konopka, 2013, p 212). Proficiency in motor skills is necessary for the learning of dance; therefore this is an area that I need greater knowledge of. The above article by Teri Todd is relevant to my studies because it attempts to suggest ways of helping autistic people overcome difficulties with their motor skills.
The article begins with the following definition of motor skills:
"Fundamental motor skills refer to locomotor object skills that emerge between the ages of one and seven years old, usually following the ability to walk. These skills are considered fundamental because they span ages and cultures and serve the basis of many more advanced or sport-specific skills (Burton & Miller, 1998). They include skills such as running and dodging, jumping, skipping, leaping, galloping, sliding, catching, throwing, striking an object with an implement, and rolling a ball. When these motor skills are not acquired, individuals lack the foundation for participating in many physical activities." (p 32)
The article begins with the following definition of motor skills:
"Fundamental motor skills refer to locomotor object skills that emerge between the ages of one and seven years old, usually following the ability to walk. These skills are considered fundamental because they span ages and cultures and serve the basis of many more advanced or sport-specific skills (Burton & Miller, 1998). They include skills such as running and dodging, jumping, skipping, leaping, galloping, sliding, catching, throwing, striking an object with an implement, and rolling a ball. When these motor skills are not acquired, individuals lack the foundation for participating in many physical activities." (p 32)
Todd's explanation of what constitutes fundamental motor skills is easy to grasp because he gives examples of what they include i.e things like running, jumping and skipping. I compared his definition with various others and found the following one in the Oxford Dictionary of Sports Science and Medicine. It states that motor skill is:
"A skill associated with muscle activity. Skills performed in sport form a continuum from fine to gross motor skills. Some sports scientists object to the prefix 'motor' on its own because it implies the skill is largely a motor reflex. They prefer to use terms, such as perceptual motor skill, psychomotor skill, or sensorimotor skill because such terms emphasise the mental components of movement skills. A skilled movement can be defined as a product of four different elements: force, velocity, accuracy, and purposefulness. In a skilful performance, all four elements must be perform at the same time in exactly the right combination and amount."
Unlike in the Oxford Dictionary definition above, Todd makes no attempt to explain what constitutes a skilled movement. I think this is a significant omission, because it is the degree to which a movement is mastered that affects how that movement looks in the execution of it. I will discuss this in terms of what it means for dance.
A dance movement appears graceful when it is skilfully performed but that same movement can still be executed,with varying degrees of success, by someone who has not yet mastered all the components necessary to be able to do it with ease. This is particularly pertinent when applied to someone with an autism diagnosis. Autism is a spectrum disorder and the symptoms are wide reaching. Therfore no two people with autism will have exactly the same symptoms( Medical News Today, online). Consequently it follows that every person will have their own level of movement proficiency. The way they move will affect the aesthetics of the movements they execute in dance.
Todd states that:
"Adequate motor abilities are required for a person to perform a motor skill well" (p 33)
I would question the use of the word 'adequate' here because in order to do anything well you need to be proficient at it not merely adequate at it.
"the underlying movement capacities that contribute to the performance of motor skills (Magill, 1998)." (p 33)
He gives examples of these motor abilities as being things like balance, hand-eye co-ordination and strength. He goes on to say that people with ASD have deficits in both motor skills and motor abilities and illustrates this by referencing two tests that had been carried out to assess these areas in people with ASD and people without. In both cases the people with ASD faired significantly worse than those without.
The information that people with ASD may struggle more with motor skills and abilities than those without ASD is helpful for dance teachers who have autistic pupils to know for planning the class content. Teachers can try to make adjustments for this in their classes and try to find ways of helping their pupils with ASD overcome these difficulties.
Todd mentions that the reasons for children with ASD experiencing problems with motor skill development are not known. I think, therefore, that it is inappropriate to mention a study which linked intelligence quota to motor skill proficiency because it was only carried out on autistic children and consequently there is an implied suggestion that children with ASD have lower intelligence. Some children with ASD are extremely intelligent but still have motor skill deficits. A study into the IQ of autistic children by Estes et al found that:
"Improved autism diagnosis and early behavioural interventions have led to more and more children being ranked in the high functioning range, with average to above IQ's." (Science Daily, online)
Another study looked into child genius and autism and concluded:
"The link between child prodigies and autism is strong in our study. Our findings suggest child prodigies have traits in common with autistic children, but something is preventing them from displaying the deficits we associate with the disorder." (Ruthsatz, Medical News Today, online)
Suggesting that autistic children may be less intelligent in an article intended to help teachers find ways of assisting their pupils with motor skill development may lead to teachers having lower expectations from their autistic pupils and assume they don't understand what is being asked of them. They may consequently set lower goals for their pupils to achieve.
Bonnie Schlachter, founder of the Ballet For All Kids programme says that :
"As with any student, setting a high bar is the best way to engage them." (Hunt, Autism in the Studio, 2012 online)
Many people with ASD also have a diagnosis of Dyspraxia. The National Autistic Society describes Dyspraxia as :
"an immaturity in the way that the brain processes information, which results in messages not being properly or fully transmitted."
The Autism Programme's website states that:
"Because of their difficulties responding to requests children with autism and dyspraxia are often considered to be either cognitively impaired or wilfully uncooperative. these are both erroneous assumptions. Dyspraxia does not affect intelligence but does create problems with learning."
I believe that it is very important for all teachers to realise that being autistic does not mean that someone is unintelligent.
Todd mentions that people with ASD have difficulty with motor - planning, imitation and postural stability. I found his explanation of motor planning very clear. He says that:
"People with motor-planning problems often know what they should do with their body but are unable to perform a sequence of movements correctly." (p 33)
He suggests teaching movements in "bite size chunks" and allowing the pupil to do the movements in their own time. He highlights that simple tasks such as throwing a ball actually, when broken down, require significant co-ordination skills and suggests that placing coloured polydots on the floor for a child to step on can assist with which foot to step first prior to throwing the ball. I thought that this was helpful because it is using a visual aid to assist with co-ordination and, as some autistic children have difficulty following verbal instructions, I think this might help.
He also suggests that when teaching dance movements the leg movements should be taught separately before adding in the dance movements. I agree that this is valid, but would also point out that this is often implemented when teaching new dance movements to all people. An inexperienced teacher might possibly find this helpful, but an experienced, qualified dance teacher would already know this and might find this information that he imparts a little condescending.
In his section of the article which deals with imitation he states that:
"Children learn to perform many motor skills by observing others carrying out an action and then trying it themselves.There is a broad consensus that children with ASDs have deficits in imitating the actions of others." (p 34)
He suggests substantiates this by referring to Dewey's hypothesis which suggests that "impairments in imitation skills reflect a deficit in the neural substrate of self-other mapping" (Dewey et al, 2007; Williams et al, 2004)
This is very valuable information for teachers of dance to know because imitation is central to the way that dance is taught. He suggests that :
"Individuals with ASDs can imitate better if the act is meaningful, goal orientated, and motivating." (p 35)
He states that:
"Ensuring that you have a child's attention before demonstrating an action is important." (p 35)
Any teacher knows that this it is paramount to engage their pupil in the task in hand in order for them to execute it successfully so I feel that this remark is unnecessary.
Todd advocates mirroring as a means of compensating for deficits in "self-other mapping and reversal errors". This information may be helpful to some, but again his tips on making sure that the teacher mirrors the direction of the movement that the child needs to go in, when teaching movement, is something that would already be known and implemented by dance teachers.
Mirroring is also a technique that is used in Dance Movement Therapy (DMT) to help people severely affect by autistic who may also be non-verbal. Lucy McGarry and Frank Russo in their article entitled "Mirroring in Dance/ Movement Therapy: Potential mechanisms behind empathy enhancement" quote Rizzolatti and Craighero (2004) as follows:
"research on the mirror neurone system (MNS) suggests that the brain areas involved in perception and production of movement overlap, and that these brain areas are also involved in the understanding of movement intention" (2011, p 178)
I feel that it would have been appropriate for Todd, when advocating the use of mirroring with regard to teaching motor skills, to acknowledge that this is something widely used already both in dance teaching and in DMT.
Todd mentions that children with ASD have problems with their postural control and this, in turn affects, their motor skills. I found the explanation of what postural control is provided by Todd difficult to understand. He cites Molloy et al (2003) as follows:
"Postural control is a complex process requiring the integration of vestibular, somatosensory (including proprioceptive and cutaneous), and visual input." (p 36)
I needed further clarification of what some of these terms meant as I had not come across them before. I therefore looked for definitions of the words so that I fully understood the above explanation of postural control.
Vestibular - definition from medicine net.com
"Having to do with the body's system for maintaining equilibrium."
Somatosensory - definition from Oxford Dictionary
"Ensuring that you have a child's attention before demonstrating an action is important." (p 35)
Any teacher knows that this it is paramount to engage their pupil in the task in hand in order for them to execute it successfully so I feel that this remark is unnecessary.
Todd advocates mirroring as a means of compensating for deficits in "self-other mapping and reversal errors". This information may be helpful to some, but again his tips on making sure that the teacher mirrors the direction of the movement that the child needs to go in, when teaching movement, is something that would already be known and implemented by dance teachers.
Mirroring is also a technique that is used in Dance Movement Therapy (DMT) to help people severely affect by autistic who may also be non-verbal. Lucy McGarry and Frank Russo in their article entitled "Mirroring in Dance/ Movement Therapy: Potential mechanisms behind empathy enhancement" quote Rizzolatti and Craighero (2004) as follows:
"research on the mirror neurone system (MNS) suggests that the brain areas involved in perception and production of movement overlap, and that these brain areas are also involved in the understanding of movement intention" (2011, p 178)
I feel that it would have been appropriate for Todd, when advocating the use of mirroring with regard to teaching motor skills, to acknowledge that this is something widely used already both in dance teaching and in DMT.
Todd mentions that children with ASD have problems with their postural control and this, in turn affects, their motor skills. I found the explanation of what postural control is provided by Todd difficult to understand. He cites Molloy et al (2003) as follows:
"Postural control is a complex process requiring the integration of vestibular, somatosensory (including proprioceptive and cutaneous), and visual input." (p 36)
I needed further clarification of what some of these terms meant as I had not come across them before. I therefore looked for definitions of the words so that I fully understood the above explanation of postural control.
Vestibular - definition from medicine net.com
"Having to do with the body's system for maintaining equilibrium."
Somatosensory - definition from Oxford Dictionary
"Relating to or denoting a sensation (such as pressure, pain, or warmth) which can occur anywhere in the body, in contrast to one localised at a sense organ (such as sight, balance, or taste. also called somaesthectic."
"Relating to or affecting the skin"
I therefore interpreted the above explanation of postural control as being a difficulty with balance and sensing, feeling and seeing where the body is in space.
Having identified that children with ASD have postural control issues he then says that:
"Postural adjustments are complicated and require the co-ordination of different types of input and several regions of the brain working in synchrony."
I feel that this is a very valid comment, but then he doesn't suggest any ways that a teacher can help overcome these difficulties with movements that might assist their pupils. He just says that there is a need for them:
"to be vigilant when rapid postural adjustments are necessary, because the postural control system of individuals with ASD is underdeveloped." (p 36)
Todd concludes that:
"Understanding the reasons why individuals with ASDs have poor motor skills and addressing them when teaching skills and designing programs will increase the success of students with ASDs. As they acquire proficiency in fundamental motor skills, their motivation to participate in physical activity should increase- people enjoy doing things they feel competent in. Having options of open and closed environments, being goal directed, and taking time to explain the outcome or goal of a task are a few simple adjustments that can help create a positive experience for individuals with ASDs." (p 37)
I feel that Todd makes some very valid comments about motor skill development with regard to ASD, but I wonder who he is aiming this article at. Is it for the experienced teacher of movement or a novice? I question this because I feel that the scientific definitions he cites are at times complex and assume a certain amount of prior knowledge, which would suggest he is aiming it at experienced teachers. On the other hand, the examples he gives to help with the problems are, in my opinion, sometimes over simplistic and condescending to an experienced practitioner. This would therefore suggest that he is aiming the article at those who are just embarking upon a teaching career and who may not be aware of the teaching strategies he advocates.
I also think that he doesn't focus enough on the fact that there are so many different conditions of autism. It is unclear whether he is advocating these methods of teaching motor skills for all children with ASD or aiming it at the mild - mid range of the spectrum. He makes no mention of those with non-verbal ASD so I assume that he is not advocating this approach for those at the severe end of the spectrum.
Reviewing this article has been very helpful for my research into the area of dance teaching and autism because I have found it necessary to seek other definitions of terminology mentioned in relation to motor skills and this has led me to a greater understanding of these terms and of what constitutes motor skills. I wanted to gain more knowledge about motor skill development and I think that reviewing this article has been successful in enabling me to do this.
The conclusion that Todd reaches that adapting teaching methods to assist with motor skills can enhance the enjoyment of physical activity and create a positive experience for people with ASD also helps support the relevance of my study into the area of dance teaching methods for autism.
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