Abstract
Context: Motor impairments have recently been acknowledged as a core symptom of autism. However, few reliable measures of motor control are available for individuals with autism, especially adults. Given that common behavioural characteristics of autism create uncertainty surrounding the reliability of collected data, determining population-specific reliability of standardized motor control measures is warranted. Purpose: To determine the test-retest reliability of four subtests of the Jebsen Test of Hand Function (JTHF) for adults with autism and an intellectual disability (A-ID). Participants: Eleven adults diagnosed with A-ID (mean age = 35.5 years; range = 20-61 years; 2 females). Procedures: Participants completed four subtests of the JTHF with each hand once a week for three consecutive weeks to yield three trials for each subtest. The subtests of the JTHF that were completed included: card turning, small objects, checkers and heavy cans. Statistical Analysis: An absolute agreement intra-class correlation (ICC) based on a 2-way random ANOVA was conducted for each subtest. Results: Very high test-retest reliability was evidenced by ICC values greater than 0.9 for each of the four completed subtests of the JTHF. Conclusion: The four JTHF subtests that were completed are suggested to be reliable motor control measures among adults with A-ID, which allows speculation that such population-specific reliability would extend to the total JTHF. As such, future studies would expand the literature by identifying the severity of disability within the sample population while examining the reliability of the total JTHF with a larger sample size of adults with A-ID.Acknowledgments: Community Living Essex County, Autism Ontario