Adaptive behaviours as measures of the vineland adaptive behaviours interview 3rd edition and fine motor skills as measures of the Mullen Scale of early learning: possible correlations between these two measures and Autism Spectrum Disorder's symptoms.

Autism Spectrum Disorder is a neuroatypical development presenting a significant heterogeneity in its phenotype. ASD is a condition that produces impairments in the functioning of the individual. An important area of deficit for this neurodevelopmental disorder is the adaptive behaviours area, including social, communication, daily living, and motor areas. An interesting correlation we found in this study is the one between these areas of disorders, and the fine motor skills area. In fact, from previous studies we saw how fine motor skills are early detectable signs in childhood; in particular, deficits in this area can impact future communication, social and daily living skills development. In our study, we wanted to investigate the correlation that fine motor skills have with the adaptive behaviours domains previously mentioned, in typical and atypical development pre-schoolers. Based on existing literature and theoretical implications, the following hypotheses are derived: 1. Low possible scores in the VABS 3rd-ed subscale of Fine Motor Skills and in the MSEL fine motor skills scale may be correlated with low scores in the other three domains of the VABS 3rd-ed: Socialisation, daily living skills and communication domains. 2. High scores in the SRS-2, so strong presence of autism traits, may be correlated with low scores in the MSEL and VABS fine motor skills scales, so presenting a negative linear correlation. It was interesting considering the MSEL and VABS instruments, related to the fine motor skills, and the adaptive behaviours in general, and the SRS to have a comparison with possible autistic traits of the individual. The sample of our study was including both typical and atypical pre-schoolers, which were considered as a single group during the correlational analysis; the reason behind that was that we wanted to have a general view on how fine motor skills interact with adaptive behaviours. Each individual was assessed with all the three instruments, with the difference that the MSEL was assessed by the experimenter, and the VABS and SRS were assessed by the experimenter too, but the answers were given by the parents/caregiver of the child. Our results were agreeing with the studies we analysed in our literature, showing that fine motor skills present a correlation with communication and daily living skills, already in the pre-school age of the development. Differently from the literature, we did not find a significant correlation between fine motor skills and the socialisation area. However, it is important to consider that the sample of our study was including only pre-schoolers, which is an early stage of development. It would be interesting to investigate the same correlations later in age, to analyse how these variables develop and interact with each other, and if these correlations become stronger and more evident with the development. It would be also interesting to analyse how fine motor skills impact the area of adaptive behaviours and the direction of this impact.