Executive Functions in Children and Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder, Grade 1 and 2, vs. Neurotypical Development: A School View

Abstract

Background: Autism spectrum disorders are neurodevelopmental disorders characterized by deficits in social and communication functioning. Previous studies suggest that people with autism spectrum disorders have deficits in executive functions, having found a relationship with cognitive flexibility, planning, working memory, inhibition or self-control, but it is especially with respect to cognitive flexibility where the greatest dysfunctions have been found. The objective of this research was to compare the executive functioning of a group of children and adolescents diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders with another with neurotypical development in an educational context. Methods: This was a cross-sectional, descriptive and multicenter confirmatory study in which 121 people who participated acted as informants, with 70 of them being education professionals who work with people with autism spectrum disorders grade 1 and 2 and 51 of them being teachers who work with people of neurotypical development; these individuals were selected through non-probabilistic sampling. Results: People diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders obtained significantly higher scores on the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function-2 scale for the nine clinical scales and the four indexes that compose it compared to the group of people with neurotypical development; in addition, the average scores obtained are clinically significant, with them being elevated for the group with autism spectrum disorders. This study confirms that children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorders experience greater difficulties with respect to their executive functions than children with neurotypical development.

Use of the Weekly Calendar Planning Activity to Assess Executive Function in Adolescents With Autism Spectrum Disorder

“…Alternatively, the mechanisms contributing to poor WCPA performance in adolescents with ASD may not be caregiver-rated EF deficits. It should be noted that the range of scores observed for the BRIEF–2 are within the range reported for people who have ASD without intellectual disability on the BRIEF–2 ( Gentil-Gutiérrez et al., 2022 ; Gioia et al., 2015 ; Granader et al., 2015 ; Hutchison et al., 2020 ). Note that the average BRIEF scores in the Doherty et al.…”

Diving into the Resolution Process: Parent’s Reactions to Child’s Diagnosis

“…ASD is defined as a permanent and constant deficiency in social communication and interpersonal interactions. This deficiency can be seen in poor socioemotional reciprocity, e.g., difficulty in conversing; limited emotional sharing; inability to initiate social interactions or respond to others’ social initiatives; poor nonverbal communication in social interactions; deficiency in developing and maintaining age-appropriate emotional relationships; limited and repetitive interests, activities and behaviours; hyper- or hyposensitivity to sensory stimuli [ 31 , 32 , 33 ].…”

Discrepancies between parents and teachers of students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in executive functioning according to the BRIEF

“…Executive functions have been assessed by different informants in studies with children with typical development (Bausela-Herreras, 2018;Martoni et al, 2016;Soriano-Ferrer et al, 2014;Teglasi et al, 2017;Zorrilla, 2013), children with ADHD (Mares et al, 2007;Soriano-Ferrer et al 2014), children with dyslexia (Morte-Soriano et al, 2020), children with ASD (Gentil-Gutiérrez et al, 2022) and even children who had survived a brain tumor (Wochos et al, 2014).When analyzing possible discrepancies between informants in the assessment of the executive functions, in studies with participants with a clinical condition, significant differences between parents and teachers have been obtained more often, with the teachers' assessment usually being lower (Mares et al, 2007;Morte-Soriano et al, 2020;Soriano-Ferrer et al, 2014;Wochos et al, 2014).…”