Perceptuo-motor calibration of older adults with fragile X syndrome and autism

Much of our knowledge of fragile X syndrome (FXS) and autism (ASD) is limited to childhood and early adulthood. The role of perceptuo-motor coordination has also been overlooked. Children with ASD and FXS experience clumsiness and movement difficulties, yet how these are affected by ageing, or impact activities important to independent living, remains unknown. One useful method of determining coordination problems is to investigate perceptuo-motor calibration. This study aims to explore perception-motor calibration in older FXS and ASD adults using established reaching tasks.

Sixty participants aged 50yrs+ will be recruited from FXS, ASD, and ‘typical’ groups. Non-verbal and verbal mental age will be measured. Participants will complete ‘perceived’ and ‘actual’ conditions in three reaching tasks; reaching forwards, upwards (to place objects down), and using a tool (to pick objects up). For ‘perceived’ conditions, participants will judge the farthest distance they could comfortably reach to place the object down/pick it up safely. For ‘actual’ conditions participants will place the object down/pick it up at the farthest distance they can comfortably reach. Movements will be recorded using a TrakStar magnetic motion tracker. The extent to which perception and action are calibrated, alongside kinematic variables, will be compared.