Executive Functions and Symptom Severity in an Italian Sample of Intellectually Able Preschoolers with Autism Spectrum Disorder.

Valeri et al. (2020) tested 60 Italian preschoolers. Half had autism and average IQ. Half were typical kids matched for age and IQ.

Each child played three quick games on a tablet. The games measured inhibition (stop yourself), shifting (switch rules), and working memory (hold and use new info).

The team also rated autism symptom severity with the ADOS-2. They wanted to see if worse EF scores lined up with more autism traits.

Kids with autism were slower and made more errors on inhibition and shifting games. Effect sizes were medium, not tiny.

Working memory scores looked the same in both groups.

Inside the autism group, children with higher ADOS totals scored worse on inhibition. Shifting and memory did not track symptom severity.

Fyfe et al. (2007) first showed that preschoolers with autism have uneven nonverbal skills: strong visual detail, weak abstract rules. Giovanni extends that picture by naming specific EF weak spots—inhibition and shifting—at the same young age.

Taylor et al. (2017) found emotion-regulation delays in autistic preschoolers. Both studies used tablet-style tasks and found medium negative effects, pointing to a broader self-control struggle in early autism.

Coffey et al. (2021) showed medium negative fitness gaps in 4- to young learners with autism. Their quasi-experimental design and effect size mirror Giovanni’s, suggesting preschool EF gaps may sit in a chain with later motor-planning gaps.

You now have data that EF troubles show up before kindergarten, not just in school-age kids. Screen inhibition and shifting during early-intervention intake. Use simple stop-and-go games or reversal tasks. Target these skills in your BST plans and share the why with families: better inhibition links to milder autism symptoms in the long run.