Autism And Executive Function

The Impact Of Different Training Methods On Executive Function Of Children With Asd

Before training, the variance analysis was performed on each function of the pre-tested executive function of each experiment, and it was found that pre-test scores of the working memory, the inhibition, and the flexibility were not significantly different = 0.864, p = 0.425 F2 = 2.075, p = 0.131 F3 = 0.336, p = 0.715), which showed that there was no difference in the level of executive function of children in each group before training. In order to explore the influence of different training methods on the executive function of children with ASD, a mixed variance design of three groups × three times was adopted, and training was used as the inter-subject variable. Time was used as the internal variable of the subject, and the dependent variable was each function of the executive function.

3.1.1. The Impact of Different Training Methods on the Working Memory of Children with ASD

In order to investigate the effect of different groups training on working memory of children with ASD, the mixed variance analysis found that the main effect of measuring time of working memory was significant, F = 404.88, p< 0.001,

Changes in the three core functions of executive function.

What Exactly Is Executive Function

The cognitive processes that help govern, control, and manage thoughts and behaviors are known as executive functions. This constitutes a wide range of skills and abilities such as planning, emotional control, problem-solving, verbal reasoning, inhibition, recognizing various points of view, action initiation and monitoring, inhibition, and cognitive flexibility. It also includes mental talents such as working memory, flexible thinking, and self-control.

Executive function is also referred to as the “brain’s management system” because the skills required allow people to set objectives, plan, and complete tasks. When problems arise with this management system in children, it can affect them in all facets of life, diminishing the quality of their daily lives.

Common Executive Functioning Issues With Autism

Whether an individual has high functioning autism or moderate levels, difficulties with executive functioning is common. People with ASD can be mislabeled as lazy or disinterested when really they lack the foundational skills of good executive functioning. These difficulties can impact kids with ASD at home and school, and of course in their social interactions.

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The Community Around Women With Autism

Wherever we are and whoever we are, we must focus on taking responsibility for our society as a whole. Empathy goes beyond putting ourselves in their shoes, it implies knowing the condition and its peculiarities. Indeed, information reduces the barriers that limit their learning and participation. The family of a woman living with autism should not give up or sit back and wait for society to be the way we want it to be.

Being limited by roles, notions, concepts and ways of being in autism in women does not help much. Often, others want to collaborate with us or vice versa, because we see a deep part of ourselves in the mirror of their excellence.

Distinctive Characteristics Of Autism In Women

Autism in women goes beyond the classic stereotype in this emotional reaction given the peculiarity that exists in the inhibitory control by the speed of stimulus processing in the cerebral amygdala where the emotions that provoke the situation and the reaction are located. Then, locking up is only the first step for the beginning of a chain of dramatic actions such as crying for hours, accumulating Kleenex or leafing through their photo album to curse the day they were born.

Autism in women makes sinking into disappearing so necessary that they dont realize how much time they spend trying. In addition, the ability to prioritize tasks is deficient, they forget responsibilities, commitments, chores and duties.

For women with autism, playing with fire is not a game, they start lighting the stove burning whatever is in sight, causing a real tragedy, because their cognitive inflexibility keeps their stress level high and their tolerance to frustration low, exacerbating anguish and fear.

Fear

Often, fear and thoughts creep in, creating a vulnerability that contributes to imbalance. This is because an image can be created within the self, which gives rise to any negative thought or emotion being enhanced in women with autism given the mental inflexibility.

The conflict

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Executive Functioning Issues Are Common And Problematic For Autistic People

• Executive functioning is necessary for planning, decision-making, impulse control, and emotional regulation.
• People with autism often have problems with executive functioning.
• This can cause problems with communication, follow through, planning, self-care, and rigid thinking.

As humans, much of what we do happens without any conscious thought. We dont need to think about breathing, for instance, and well automatically take our hand away from burning heat.

For the rest of our daily responsibilities, we rely heavily on what is called executive function . We need to have the ability to plan, set and meet goals, refer back to previous experiences, complete tasks, and manage our emotions. For this, we rely primarily on the front part of our brain . Life is increasingly complex, and EF allows us to meet these complexities by drawing on what we already know about the world, making links, and controlling our impulses. EF keeps us at our desk working when weve got a tight deadline to meet instead of taking the day off to lie in bed with a supply of coffee and biscuits. Its a bit like having an effective boss keeping things in control.

EF is usually broken down into the following categories:

1. Working memory

2. Cognitive flexibility

3. Inhibitory control

Evidence For Executive Dysfunction In Autism

The relationship between executive dysfunction and the behavioral symptoms present in autism has continued to be an area of great interest among researchers. Since individuals with autism spectrum disorders often show impairments across a range of cognitive tasks, researchers often view executive dysfunction as a central feature of autism.

This scientific article explains that there is strong support that the prefrontal cortex plays a major role in executive functioning. This means that in relation to symptoms of autism, abnormalities may exist in this region of the brain. However, this theory is complex, as not all forms of executive processing are commonly impaired among individuals with autism. For example, while cognitive flexibility is often impaired, fundamental cognitive control remains relatively unaffected. This has been shown through the Stroop task, as children with autism often outperform typically developing children.

At this time, evidence of executive dysfunction in autism remains mixed. However, a significant amount of research supports the relationships between executive dysfunction and autism, including this meta-analysis.

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What Is Executive Function

The technical definition of executive function is: the cognitive processes that help us regulate, control and manage our thoughts and actions. It includes planning, working memory, attention, problem solving, verbal reasoning, inhibition, cognitive flexibility, initiation of actions and monitoring of actions. But what does that look like in real life?

Cynthia Kim, in her blog Musings of an Aspie says:

In practice, executive function is a slippery concept. Sometimes it looks like responsibility. Sometimes it looks like self-discipline. Sometimes it looks like being a competent adult.

If you have poor EF, people might mistake you for being disorganized, lazy, incompetent, sloppy, or just plain not very bright. Why? Because executive function encompasses so many essential areas of daily living. Nearly everything we do calls on areas of executive function. Cooking. Cleaning. Parenting. Work. School. Self-care.

One of our contributors, Rebecca Moyes, described executive function this way:

can be likened to an employee who works for a company where the supervisor is unorganized and inefficient. Nothing seems to go right, things get misplaced, and general chaos seems to be the operational rule. Its a lot like that for children with autism spectrum disorders. The executive in charge of their brain is not effective, and because of this, planning processes suffer.

Focus Executive Functioning And Adhd

Difficulties with attention and executive functioning go hand and hand for children with autism. Having done more than 10,000 brain maps, when you look at the brain wave activity of those with ASD, common under stimulation in the frontal lobes and over communication in the brain means that focus and executive functioning is a challenge.

This type of brain wave pattern is associated with difficulty alerting, which means that listening and starting tasks is a challenge. Transitioning from one activity to another is especially hard for children with ASD because their brains tend to get stuck on preferred high stimulation activities.

Transitional difficulties are often associated with meltdowns and parent friction but can be improved with routine and structure.

Executive functioning is different from attention because it involves mental processes required for planning and prioritizing for a future activity or event. It involves way more than going through a checklist and means you need to help your child learn executive functioning skills.

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How Autism & Adhd Relate To Executive Functioning

From the descriptions above, you can see just how integral these executive functioning skills are to managing life. While everyone has varying strengths and weaknesses across these abilities, autistic and ADHD individuals tend to show consistent patterns of executive functioning struggles . Our unique brain processes can make accomplishing our goals more difficult.

Reviews For Aspergers Syndrome And Executive Function

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What Is Executive Dysfunction

The frontal lobe is known as the seat of cognition and higher-order processing. It plays a role in neuropsychological functioning and, during the development of children and adults, its also involved in regulating higher-order cognitive functions that help to perform complex tasks. These higher-order cognitive functions are what we know as executive functions. According to Otero, et al. , these higher-order functions include psychological processes such as selection and perception of important information, maintenance and retrieval of information in working memory self-directed behavior, planning, and organization regulation of behaviors, and ability to control response to an invariable environment decision making.

Through neuropsychology research, scientists have found that any damage to the frontal lobe results in difficulties such as social awkwardness or inappropriate social behavior, lack of initiation, impulsivity, lack of focus and engagement in tasks, and disinhibition. Consequently, damage to the frontal lobe equates to executive dysfunction.

Executive dysfunction describes a variety of cognitive, behavioral, and emotional difficulties that are either caused by neurodevelopmental disorders or as a result of a traumatic frontal lobe injury. Challenges due to executive dysfunction include difficulty planning, organizing, problem-solving, and time management

Executive Functioning In Autism: Effects And Symptoms

Executive functioning is a term representing a wide range of skills related to a person’s cognitive function. Many children with autism suffer from executive function impairment, which creates difficulties in areas such as managing time and finishing tasks. This can make what would otherwise be simple chores such as cleaning their rooms, a challenging task.

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Autism And Executive Function

While many individuals with autism have incredible memories, especially for facts and minor details, they can struggle with executive functioning skills. These skills include the ability to manage emotions, organize and plan, pay attention, start tasks and remain focused on them, verbal reasoning, and inhibition.

As an adult with autism, its important to consider the latest evidence-based methods in terms of executive dysfunction. The goal of treatment centers, such as the Adult Autism Center, is to help adults with autism reach their potential so that they can experience the highest possible quality of life.

How To Improve Organisation

• Systems in place for organization i.e.own hook in bag area away from busy areas
• Minimising equipment and books i.e. one book/folder or limiting the side of pencil case and its contents
• Take Photos of how desk/locker/bag should look so remind them where things go
• Help write down plans and thoughts and organize logically.

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Autism A Sea Of Realities

The sea is blue, bright, sometimes calm and peaceful and sometimes dark, stormy and tempestuous. The same happens with autism, that is why the color blue has been associated with the condition. The female sex has long been identified with the color pink. Nowadays this social practice has faded away. In this case, it will be used in order to elaborate an idea and address an important issue by going beyond the title. The theme of inclusion will always be possible to address at another time.

The sea shines when it is calm and allows the sun to reflect. Fear, anxiety and even depression make that calmness disappear from any person, giving way to behaviors that are not only disruptive but also dangerous. Locking herself in her room, in the closet throwing herself onto the beanbag wanting to sink until disappearing, playing with fire, biting her nails, pulling her hair, eating past being full, laughing, crying becoming a stereotypical girl having a very bad day.

How People With Autism Can Cope

All of the above EF issues can make it extremely difficult for people with autism, no matter where they are on the spectrum, to cope with life. But both children and adults can develop strategies to help with executive functionincluding, for example, creating to-do lists and breaking down larger tasks into manageable steps, sometimes in a visual or flowchart manner. Putting systems into place and having routines can be useful so that tasks arent left until the last minute to be dealt with at a stage when the situation feels overwhelming.

One of my clients reported that she consistently couldnt face making breakfast, which left her feeling drained and anxious. By preparing breakfast in advance, she noticed a huge improvement in her day. Seemingly simple, proactive, and routine steps can create huge changes when it comes to EF. Seeking out the right support, therapy, and acknowledging that some regular tasks, no matter how simple they might seem, are simply more difficult for you can help improve your quality of life.

References

1. C. Hughes, J. Russell, and T. W. Robbins, Evidence for executive dysfunction in autism, Neuropsychologia, vol. 32, no. 4, pp. 477492, 1994

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Developmental Trajectory Of Ef

An overview of the developmental trajectory of cool EFs in neurotypical development and in ASD is presented in Figure 1. In typical development, maturation of EFs begins in infancy and continues throughout childhood and adolescence and into early adulthood . The rate of improvement for individual components, with the exception of fluency, begins to taper at about age 12 , with most EFs reaching their peak in late adolescence/in the early 20s .

Developmental changes in executive function and associated impairment in autism spectrum disorders . Reproduced with permission from .

In ASD, there is evidence of executive dysfunction across development for discrete EF domains with some support of improvements in EF ability over time . Developmental research of hot EFs in ASD is limited. Recent research found no significant age-related changes in ASD in the neurotypical comparison group . This contrasts with other research in neurotypical development that suggests a variable developmental trajectory .

The variability in peak developmental periods for distinct EFs may be contributing to some of the heterogeneity observed in EF performance in ASD. The use of mixed age groups in ASD research mask these differences and could contribute to variability observed between studies.

Autism And Executive Function Whats Next

The first step in assisting those with autism is to understand executive dysfunction better. As researchers continue to study this relationship, its important to help individuals with autism overcome the challenges they experience on a day-to-day basis.

As discussed, each individual is unique, which is why there is no one-size-fits-all solution.

While many of the suggestions are directed at children with autism, there are steps you can take to assist adults struggling with executive function skills. Executive functioning is a complex system, but providing interventions doesnt need to be.

Here are some suggestions to help address executive dysfunction in adults with autism.

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Procedures To Assess Ef Deficits

Assessment of EFs involves gathering data from several sources and synthesizing the information to look for trends and patterns across time and setting. Apart from formal tests, other measures such as standardized checklists, observations, interviews, and work samples could be used. We found several different kinds of assessment tools to assess EF, which included parent/teacher reports, computerized cognitive tests, and performance-based tests measuring EFs in children with ASD and ADHD. The most common questionnaire developed for parents was the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function, which was used in five studies to assess inhibition, attention, WM, flexibility/shifting, planning, preparatory processing, monitoring, and fluency.3842 The Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery was used in five studies to assess attention, WM, flexibility/shifting, and planning.4347 The Go/No-Go and the Stroop tests were used in ten and seven studies, respectively, to assess inhibition response. Among the performance-based tests, five studies used the WCST in order to assess inhibition, WM, flexibility/shifting, planning, and concept formation. Table 2 reports the assessment tools used in the studies included in this review.