Background: Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental condition characterized by difficulties in social communication and interaction and restricted and repetitive patterns of behaviour. Alongside these core characteristics, children with ASD may present with motor and functional difficulties involving coordination, balance and postural control. These difficulties may influence mobility, independence and participation in everyday activities.

Objective: To determine the correlation between autism severity and functional mobility in children with autism spectrum disorder.

Methods: A cross-sectional correlational study was conducted among 25 children with clinically diagnosed ASD aged 5-12 years. Participants were independently ambulatory and able to follow simple instructions. Autism severity was assessed using the Indian Scale for Assessment of Autism (ISAA), while functional mobility was assessed using the Timed Up and Go (TUG) test. Descriptive statistics and the Shapiro-Wilk test were used for analysis. As ISAA scores were not normally distributed, Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient was used to determine the relationship between ISAA score and TUG completion time.

Results: The mean age of participants was 7.48 ± 2.24 years. Mean ISAA score was 131.00 ± 33.00 and mean TUG completion time was 39.30 ± 14.90 seconds. A positive strong correlation was observed between ISAA score and TUG completion time 131.00 ± 33.00 and mean TUG completion time was 39.30 ± 14.90 seconds.

Conclusion: Greater autism severity was associated with poorer functional mobility in the studied sample. The findings support consideration of functional mobility as an important component of physiotherapy assessment in children with ASD.