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Movement Planning and Reprogramming in Individuals With Autism

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Abstract

Two experiments explored how individuals with and without autism plan and reprogram movements. Participants were given partial or complete information regarding the location of the upcoming manual movement. In Experiment 1, direct information specified the hand or direction of the upcoming movement. These results replicated previous reports that participants with autism utilize advance information to prepare their movements in the same manner as their chronologically age matched peers. Experiment 2 examined how individuals respond to an unexpected change in the movement requirements. Participants received advance information about the hand and direction of the upcoming movement. On 20% of the trials participants needed to adjust either the hand or direction they had prepared. Overall, the individuals with autism had difficulty reprogramming already planned movements, particularly if a different effector was required.

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Acknowledgments

This research was funded by the Canada Research Chair Programme and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC). This research was conducted at McMaster University for the first author’s fourth year honors thesis under the supervision of the second author. We would like to thank all the staff and participants at Woodview Manor in Hamilton, Ontario. Without you this research would not have been possible. Thank you!!

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Correspondence to Cheryl M. Glazebrook.

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Nazarali, N., Glazebrook, C.M. & Elliott, D. Movement Planning and Reprogramming in Individuals With Autism. J Autism Dev Disord 39, 1401–1411 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-009-0756-x

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