TY - JOUR
T1 - Language, social, and executive functions in high functioning autism
T2 - A continuum of performance
AU - Landa, Rebecca J.
AU - Goldberg, Melissa C.
PY - 2005/10/1
Y1 - 2005/10/1
N2 - This study examined language and executive functions (EF) in high-functioning school-aged individuals with autism and individually matched controls. Relationships between executive, language, and social functioning were also examined. Participants with autism exhibited difficulty on measures of expressive grammar, figurative language, planning, and spatial working memory. A mixed profile of impaired and enhanced abilities was noted in set-shifting. While controls showed the typical increase in errors when shifting sets from an intradimensional to an extra-dimensional stimulus, this pattern was not noted in participants with autism. Relationships between EF, language, and social performance were weak to non-existent. Implications for theories of core deficit in autism and dissociable nature of the language and executive impairments in autism are discussed.
AB - This study examined language and executive functions (EF) in high-functioning school-aged individuals with autism and individually matched controls. Relationships between executive, language, and social functioning were also examined. Participants with autism exhibited difficulty on measures of expressive grammar, figurative language, planning, and spatial working memory. A mixed profile of impaired and enhanced abilities was noted in set-shifting. While controls showed the typical increase in errors when shifting sets from an intradimensional to an extra-dimensional stimulus, this pattern was not noted in participants with autism. Relationships between EF, language, and social performance were weak to non-existent. Implications for theories of core deficit in autism and dissociable nature of the language and executive impairments in autism are discussed.
KW - Autism
KW - Executive functions
KW - Flexibility
KW - Language
KW - Social
KW - Working memory
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=33644956884&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=33644956884&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/s10803-005-0001-1
DO - 10.1007/s10803-005-0001-1
M3 - Article
C2 - 16211332
AN - SCOPUS:33644956884
VL - 35
SP - 557
EP - 573
JO - Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders
JF - Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders
SN - 0162-3257
IS - 5
ER -