Strengths and weaknesses in executive functioning in children with intellectual disability.
Kids with ID can verbally switch and name as well as mental-age peers, but they need help stopping, planning, and holding visual info.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Danielsson et al. (2012) looked at executive-function (EF) strengths and gaps in kids with intellectual disability.
They matched each child to a peer of the same mental age, then gave tests for fluency, switching, inhibition, planning, and working memory.
The design was quasi-experimental: no random groups, just careful matching on mental age.
What they found
Kids with ID kept pace on verbal fluency and task-switching.
They fell behind on stopping impulses, making plans, and holding non-verbal items in mind.
In short, the EF profile was mixed: some skills OK, others clearly delayed.
How this fits with other research
Hong et al. (2021) pooled 57 studies and saw huge EF problems in Down syndrome. Their meta-analysis seems to clash with Henrik’s “OK fluency” result. The gap is age: Henrik matched mental-age peers, while the meta used typical-age controls, so delays look larger.
McClain et al. (2022) stretched the profile downward to toddlers and found working memory as the first red flag. That extends Henrik’s finding by showing the weakness starts early.
Whitehouse et al. (2014) linked poor inhibition to weaker daily-living skills in mild ID. This gives real-world weight to Henrik’s lab scores: inhibition trouble matters for dressing, counting, and talking.
Why it matters
You now know EF is not one big delay in ID. Plan tasks that lean on verbal fluency or switching (like category games) because those can succeed. Build extra supports for inhibition, planning, and non-verbal memory (like stop-and-think cues, visual schedules, and small chunks). Screen working memory even in preschool; it’s the earliest bottleneck. Match demands to mental age, not calendar age, to set achievable goals.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Children with intellectual disability (ID) were given a comprehensive range of executive functioning measures, which systematically varied in terms of verbal and non-verbal demands. Their performance was compared to the performance of groups matched on mental age (MA) and chronological age (CA), respectively. Twenty-two children were included in each group. Children with ID performed on par with the MA group on switching, verbal executive-loaded working memory and most fluency tasks, but below the MA group on inhibition, planning, and non-verbal executive-loaded working memory. Children with ID performed below CA comparisons on all the executive tasks. We suggest that children with ID have a specific profile of executive functioning, with MA appropriate abilities to generate new exemplars (fluency) and to switch attention between tasks, but difficulties with respect to inhibiting pre-potent responses, planning, and non-verbal executive-loaded working memory The development of different types of executive functioning skills may, to different degrees, be related to mental age and experience.
Research in developmental disabilities, 2012 · doi:10.1016/j.ridd.2011.11.004