The Role of Oculomotor Control and the Cerebellum in Social Communication Across the Paediatric Autism-ADHD Spectra

Autism and ADHD are highly prevalent neurodevelopmental conditions without validated biological markers, creating significant challenges for timely diagnosis and intervention. This thesis examines whether eye movement patterns and cerebellar structure could serve as biological markers for understanding these conditions and their relationship to social communication skills. For the first time, findings reveal that children with co-occurring autism and ADHD have distinct eye movement patterns, with specific measures predicting social communication abilities across clinical groups. Brain imaging shows cerebellar structural differences across conditions. These findings challenge conventional diagnostic approaches, suggesting biological markers may provide more informative insights than categorical classifications alone.