Virtual Reality on Assessing the Motor Skills of Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) often experience delays in motor skills, which can substantially affect their future motor function. The Movement Assessment Battery for Children - Second Edition (MABC-2) is a widely used tool in evaluating children’s motor skills across different age bands, specifically assessing children ages 3 to 16. It includes eight unique tasks per age band that measure fine and gross motor skills and balance, which explains a child’s motor abilities and classifies them by groups. This study extends previous research by exploring the potential of Virtual Reality (VR) to make the MABC-2 tasks more engaging and interactive for children, which could lead to better outcomes. The previous research created the balance and gross motor tasks of the MABC-2 in VR. We refined those tasks and completed the remaining ones. The VR tool was tested on seven individuals aged 19 to 21. Pre- and post-VR MABC-2 scores were collected and analyzed. Most tasks were accurately replicated in VR; however, significant statistical differences were found in the Threading Lace (p= 0.003) and Catching Ball (p = 0.007) tasks, indicating further refinement. Machine learning analysis was also conducted on data from 268 previous MABC-2 scores of children diagnosed with autism to classify them into motor skill proficiency zones based on their scores and to determine the most influential features for accurate prediction. The analysis revealed that balance scores were particularly influential in determining motor proficiency. This indicates the importance of balance in interventions to improve overall motor proficiency.