Hand grip strengthening exercises on fine motor skills in children with autism spectrum disorder

Background. Movement impairments in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are manifested as both delays and deficits, with delays found in gross motor, fine motor and speech domains and deficits found in coordination, postural control and gait. Functional fine motor task is dependent on hand grip strength (HGS) which is found to be decreased. Therapeutic strategies focus primarily on sensory integration issues but HGS is not comprehensively addressed in improving fine motor skills (FMS). Objective. The aim of the study was to analyse the effect of hand grip strengthening exercises on improving FMS in children with ASD. Materials and Methods. This interventional study was carried out in 27 children with ASD who were recruited from Vidya sudha – Centre for children with special needs. After including in the study, level of FMS was assessed by Peabody Developmental Motor Scale (PDMS-2) and HGS was quantified with Martin Vigorimeter. Control group received conventional therapy and Intervention group received hand grip strengthening exercises along with routine therapy for duration of 6 weeks and HGS and level of FMS were reassessed with same outcome measures. Results. Paired t test showed statistically significant change of HGS in Intervention group and FMS of both the group with p < 0.05. Unpaired t test showed statistically significant change of HGS and FMS with p < 0.05 in Interventional group compared to control group. Conclusion. Hand grip strengthening exercises improves the HGS and has positive effect on FMS which can be included in the standard plan of care in rehabilitating children with ASD.