Psychological and neurobehavioral comparisons of children with Asperger's Disorder versus High-Functioning Autism.
Kids with Asperger’s and HFA show matching executive-function and ADHD problems, so screen both the same way.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Kleinert et al. (2007) compared kids with Asperger’s Disorder and kids with high-functioning autism.
They looked at executive-function problems and ADHD traits.
All kids took the same tests and parent forms.
What they found
Both groups scored high on executive dysfunction and ADHD traits.
The two labels looked almost the same.
Only tiny differences showed up.
How this fits with other research
Verté et al. (2006) saw the same thing a year earlier: EF scores barely split AS, HFA, and PDD-NOS.
Fullana et al. (2007), also from 2007, found the opposite: kids with HFA did worse on emotion-perception tasks, while kids with Asperger’s scored near typical.
The clash is about task type. EF and ADHD ratings blur the labels; social-cognition tasks pull them apart.
McGonigle-Chalmers et al. (2010) later added that kids with Asperger’s have weaker emotional control and planning than kids with ADHD, so the EF picture is label-specific once you bring ADHD into the room.
Why it matters
Stop assuming Asperger’s and HFA need different EF or ADHD screens. Use the same checklists for both.
If you need to tell the labels apart, swap to social-cognition or planning tasks, not EF rating scales.
One quick move: add a brief emotion-voice test or a planning puzzle when the referral question is differential diagnosis.
Want CEUs on This Topic?
The ABA Clubhouse has 60+ free CEUs — live every Wednesday. Ethics, supervision & clinical topics.
Join Free →Give the BRIEF or Conners to every new AS/HFA client—skip trying to pick the form by label.
02At a glance
03Original abstract
This study investigated personality and neurobehavioral differences between 16 children with Asperger's Disorder, 15 children with High-Functioning Autism (HFA), and 31 controls, all ranging in age from 5-17 years, M age = 10.7 years, SD = 3.0. Parents rated their children's behaviors on a 44-item autistic symptoms survey and on the 200-item Coolidge Personality and Neuropsychological Inventory (Coolidge, Thede, Stewart, & Segal (2002a). The Coolidge Personality and Neuropsychological Inventory for Children (CPNI): Preliminary psychometric characteristics. Behavior Modification, 26, 550-566). The results indicated that the two clinical samples were significantly elevated on the Executive Function Deficits scale and Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) scale compared to controls. There were more similarities than differences between the two clinical samples on the personality scales, although the Asperger's group scored significantly on the two scales with anxiety components.
Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 2007 · doi:10.1007/s10803-006-0212-0