Handedness in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

The left hemisphere is usually predominant in manual skills and language, suggesting a link between hand dominance and language. Studies of autism spectrum disorder show atypical handedness; however, few have examined language-handedness associations. Handedness, assessed by task performance, and standardized receptive and expressive language tests were completed in 110 autism spectrum disorder children (96 boys; M age = 8.3 years, SD = 3.8) and 45 typically developing children (37 boys; M age = 8.6 years, SD = 4.3), 3 to 17 years of age. The autism spectrum disorder group had a lower handedness score (was less strongly lateralized) than the control group. In the autism spectrum disorder group, there was a small effect of handedness on language; right-handers had better language than non-right-handers. Results suggest poorer language prognosis may be associated with left- or mixed-handedness in autism spectrum disorder.