Processing capacity in children and adolescents with pervasive developmental disorders.

Lindsay et al. (2004) wired up kids and teens with autism to watch a second task while they listened for sounds. They wanted to see if the brain wave called P3 would shrink when the listening job got harder.

Typical brains show a smaller P3 to extra pictures when they are busy listening. The team asked whether autistic brains would do the same.

The autistic group did not drop their P3 to the pictures when the listening task got tough. Their brain kept reacting to both jobs at once.

This hints that they share brain power differently under double load.

The finding backs up older work. Koop et al. (1983) and Szempruch et al. (1993) already saw smaller P3 waves in autistic people during simple sound tasks. R et al. show the odd pattern stays even when you add a second job.

Liu (2025) and Panganiban et al. (2025) push the story further. They link the smaller P300 to slower thinking and everyday social problems. The dip is no longer just a lab note; it tracks real-life trouble.

No clash here. Early papers found a smaller wave, R et al. found the wave fails to flex, and later papers tie that stiff wave to daily skills. Each step adds detail, not doubt.

If you run dual-task probes or use EEG in your clinic, expect autistic clients to give flatter P3 curves. Do not read flat curves as lack of effort; it is their standard wiring under load. When you pile on instructions or background noise, slow the pace and check comprehension often, because their filter works differently.