Relationship Between Executive Functioning and Symptoms of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder and Autism Spectrum Disorder in 6-8 Year Old Children.

Neely et al. (2016) tested 6- to young learners kids. Some had autism, some had ADHD, some had both, and some had neither.

Each child completed short games that check executive-function skills. Parents also filled out rating scales about daily attention and autism traits.

The team then looked at which traits best predicted low game scores.

Kids with high autism traits scored low on flexible-thinking games. Kids with high inattention scores also scored low, but on different games.

Surprisingly, hyperactivity scores did not link to any game score. The problems were tied to specific traits, not general diagnosis labels.

Iversen et al. (2021) pooled 25 studies and found the same link: more repetitive behaviors go hand in hand with weaker executive skills. Jane’s data add the fine detail that the link shows up by first grade.

Tonizzi et al. (2022) showed that kids who have both ASD and ADHD symptoms have worse inhibitory control than kids with ASD alone. Jane saw the same pattern in younger children, so the extra deficit starts early.

Walley et al. (2005) looks like a contradiction. They found that once language and attention problems were removed, autism itself did not predict poor inhibition. Jane did not control for language, so their autism-link may reflect the language-attention mix that M et al. warned about.

You can spot risk long before a full diagnosis. If a first-grader shows rigid play and poor flexibility games, flag autism traits. If the same child also can’t hold rules in mind, check for inattention. Tailor your intervention plan: teach flexibility scripts for autism-linked rigidity, and use rehearsal or self-talk for attention-linked working-memory slips. Don’t assume hyperactive kids have executive deficits; test first.