Objective: To study the relationship between motor coordination, social communication impairment, and restricted/repetitive behaviors (RRBs) in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Methods: A total of 123 ASD children aged 2-12 were recruited from rehabilitation service institutions for autistic children in Guangzhou, including 105 boys and 18 girls. The Developmental Coordination Disorder Questionnaire, Social Communication Questionnaire, and Restrictive Behavior Scale Revised were collected to measure motor coordination, social communication skills and RRBs, respectively. Multiple linear regression was used to explore the association between motor coordination and core symptoms. Results: In children aged 2-5 years old, those without motor coordination deficits scored lower in social interaction (7.73±4.00) than others (9.76±2.90)( Z=-2.29, P <0.05). In children aged 6-12 years old, those without motor coordination deficits scored lower in restricted, repetitive, and stereotyped patterns of behavior (4.22±1.93), repetitive sensory-motor behaviors (3.91±2.63), and insistence on sameness (13.52±10.59) than those with motor coordination deficits (6.11±1.54, 14.00±8.49, 31.33±15.05)( Z=-2.48, -3.83, -3.28, P <0.01)。Multiple linear regression analysis showed that fine motor/handwriting and control during movement were negatively correlated with the severity of social communication impairment and RRBs respectively among children aged 2-5 and 6-12( β=-0.85--0.03, -2.98--0.17, P <0.05). Conclusion Among autistic children, those with motor deficits suffered from more severe core symptoms. Motor assessment should be included in the ASD screening, diagnosis and management. Motor intervention should also be promoted in the rehabilitation in order to improve the prognosis and life quality.

Objective: To explore changes in the social interactions of school aged children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) enrolled in ordinary schools and special education institutions during a one year observation period. Methods: A total of 44 children with ASD were recruited from the Research Center of Children and Adolescent Psychological and Behavioral Development in the Department of Public Health, Sun Yat sen University, during 2017 and 2018. At the baseline and follow up periods, a self report questionnaire (completed by parents) was administered in order to collect demographic information related to the children, the survey included the Social Responsiveness Scale (SRS), Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ), Social Communication Questionnaire (SCQ), Screen for Child Anxiety Related Emotional Disorder (SCARED) and the Swan son Nolan and Pelham, Version IV Scale(SNAP-IV). Results: At baseline, compared with children in ordinary schools, the total score of SRS (114.56±6.02, 93.63 ±3.82) and its subscale scores (social awareness:13.54±0.71, 11.02±0.45; social cognition:22.73±1.16, 18.19±0.73; social interaction:37.47±2.12, 30.40±1.35; autistic mannerisms: 23.11±1.70, 19.02±1.08) were higher in children attending special education institutions, as well as the SCQ total score (20.37±1.60, 12.92±1.02) and its subscale scores(social interaction domain:8.77±0.92, 4.23±0.58; social communication domain:6.07±0.55, 4.19±0.35)( P <0.05). Further comparison of baseline and follow up results showed no significant difference in time effect or in the interaction between time and the educational environment( P >0.05). Conclusion Compared with special education institutions, school aged children with ASD in ordinary schools had lower levels of social impairment. During the one year observation period, there was no correlation between the educational environment and changes in symptoms of children and their parents. Parents should choose an appropriate educational environment according to the children s abilities, and ordinary schools and teachers should be prepared for inclusive education.

Objective:To explore the visual fixation patterns during facial emotion recognition and the association between fixation duration percentage (FDP) of eye region with social impairment among high-functioning autism spectrum disorders (HFASD).Methods:Children were recruited from the Child and Adolescent Behavior Research Center of Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, between July and December 2019 for case control study. A total of 42 children with HFASD and 23 age-and gender-matched typical development (TD) children were enrolled. Based on their performance during the facial emotion recognition task, HFASD children were further divided into ASD-1 group (correctly recognized both happy and fear emotions) and ASD-2 group (recognized happy emotions only). During the free viewing task, an infrared eye tracker was used to record the gazing data of children in the three groups. The social responsiveness scales (SRS) was utilized to evaluate HFASD children′s social impairment, with the cutoff score of 75 to differentiate those from mild and severe social impairment. The differences of FDP among the three groups were analyzed by the Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) model. Mixed linear regression model was conducted to evaluate the associations between social impairment and FDP of eye region among HFASD children.Results:The final sample consists of 25 ASD-1 (20 males, aged (7.9±1.0) years), 17 ASD-2(14 males, aged (7.2±1.2) years), and 23 TD (12 males, aged (7.7±1.3) years) children. There were no significant differences in age and gender among three groups ( F=2.05, χ2 =10.08, P=0.14 and 0.07, respectively). For the happy emotion, there are significant differences in eye FDP among the three groups (TD: 0.37±0.20, ASD-1: 0.35±0.20, ASD-2: 0.47±0.24, F=3.97, P=0.02). Mixed linear regression model revealed that, adjusting for emotion, gender, age and intelligence quotient, ASD children′s eye FDP negatively associates with social impairment ( OR=0.15, 95% CI: 0.06-0.35, P<0.01). Conclusions:Longer FDP is associated with milder social impairment among HFASD children. HFASD children with facial emotion recognition difficulties require longer fixation to recognize happy emotions.