Different Factors Predict Idiom Comprehension in Children and Adolescents with ASD and Typical Development.

Saban-Bezalel et al. (2019) asked what skills help kids grasp idioms like "break the ice." They tested children and teens with autism and typical peers. Each child did idiom tasks, vocabulary tests, executive-function games, and theory-of-mind stories.

Typical kids scored higher on idiom tests than kids with autism. For children with autism, only vocabulary mattered. For typical kids, executive-function scores predicted success; theory-of-mind and vocabulary did not.

Kouklari et al. (2018) seems to disagree. They found executive function, not vocabulary, predicted theory-of-mind in autism. The key difference is the target skill: idiom comprehension versus theory-of-mind. Different tasks, different predictors.

Yu et al. (2021) extend the story. They show cool executive function and verbal skill together link hot executive function to theory-of-mind in autism. Their result supports the idea that vocabulary is the gateway skill.

Cardillo et al. (2021) echo the theme. They report theory-of-mind, not executive function, drives pragmatic language gaps in autism. Both studies tell us to look past pure EF scores when language is the goal.

If you run social-skills groups, start with vocabulary checks before teaching idioms. Kids who can't define "melt" won't grasp "melt down." Build word knowledge first; executive-function drills can wait. This small shift can save weeks of frustration.