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Multimodal Sensory Integration For Perception And Action In High Functioning Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder, Nicole Marie Gregor Salowitz

Dissertations (1934 -)

Movement disorders are the earliest observed features of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) present in infancy. Yet we do not understand the neural basis for impaired goal-directed movements in this population. To reach for an object, it is necessary to perceive the state of the arm and the object using multiple sensory modalities (e.g. vision, proprioception), to integrate those sensations into a motor plan, to execute the plan, and to update the plan based on the sensory consequences of action. In this dissertation, I present three studies in which I recorded hand paths of children with ASD and typically developing (TD) …