Changing autism's definition to include movement problems

Anjana Bhat, associate professor in the University of Delaware’s Physical Therapy department, has been awarded an R01 grant through the NIH for the next three years. Bhat will look at a timely SPARK study dataset of 24,000 school-aged children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). The goal of Bhat’s grant-funded research is to better understand motor problems in children with ASD - their prevalence and relationship to other problems in ASD. Bhat hopes to alter the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders definition of ASD, which includes social communication and repetitive behavior problems, but not motor problems. Bhat's students run a movement study at STAR Campus with children with ASD. Xavier Luckett, joined by his little brother, works through exercises with them as part of the study. Learn more about the UD College of Health Sciences: www.udel.edu/a...