r/science • u/mvea Professor | Medicine • Jan 30 '25

Neuroscience A low-cost tool accurately distinguishes neurotypical children from children with autism just by watching them copy the dance moves of an on-screen avatar for a minute. It can even tell autism from ADHD, conditions that commonly overlap.

https://newatlas.com/adhd-autism/autism-motion-detection-diagnosis/
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u/LoreChano Jan 30 '25

Interesting because I've known a man who was clearly autistic but he made absolutely amazing wood carving art, things that clearly required higher than average motor skills. Maybe different kinds of autism can lead to that?

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u/-Hi-Reddit Jan 30 '25 edited Jan 30 '25

Fine motor control of the hands and general control used for dancing are very different and I don't think conflating them is valid. I'm good with fine control.

I probably wouldn't have made it into the top 0.01% of competitive Cs players if I wasn't (genuinely this is way harder than it sounds, there are millions of players).

But I am very autistic and cannot copy dance moves for love money or pride.

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u/AnonymousBanana7 Jan 30 '25

Is poor fine motor control not common in ASD? My fine motor control is absolutely dire, I've always struggled with anything requiring precise movements, and I always put it down to ASD.

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u/Friendly-Channel-480 Jan 30 '25

It’s a separate disorder that often occurs with autism.