Jamie Holloway, PT, DPT, PhD, Board-Certified Clinical Specialist in Pediatrics – Assistant Professor (left), and Dustin Hardwick, PT, DPT, PhD, CSCS (Right) – Assistant Professor were recently awarded a $26,000+ research grant. The grant was awarded by the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA) Academy of Pediatric Physical Therapy to research the effects of attentional focus on motor learning in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD).

This innovative study will explore the role of different attentional foci of feedback on motor learning in children with ASD and will use motion capture data to explain changes in movement coordination related to attentional focus and type of feedback during learning of a novel throwing task. This study will impact the field by informing clinicians of optimal strategies for improving motor skills for children with ASD.