Is the ability to integrate parts into wholes affected in autism spectrum disorder?

Olufemi’s team asked the adults with autism and 30 typical adults to finish two computer tasks. One task was simple color matching. The other task showed scattered shapes that had to be mentally glued into a whole object before picking the match.

Everyone got the same short time limit. The researchers recorded speed and errors. They also gave each autistic adult an ADOS score to rate symptom strength.

Both groups did the easy color match at the same speed. On the shape-glue task the autism group was markedly slower, even when they answered correctly.

More slowing meant higher ADOS scores. The worse the integration lag, the more social-communication symptoms the person showed.

Granader et al. (2014) looked at parent BRIEF forms the same year. Parents of kids with autism flagged big problems on the Shift scale, hinting at sticky mental flexibility. Olufemi’s lab task gives a live, measurable example of that stickiness: putting pieces together simply takes longer.

Brosnan et al. (2025) adds a why. They show that intolerance of uncertainty pushes autistic people to double-check before acting. Shape integration is full of little uncertainties, so the brain keeps rechecking the pieces, burning extra seconds.

Machado et al. (2024) found sensory quirks in parents, not just in the autistic child. Olufemi shows the child’s perceptual glue is slow; together the papers sketch a family-wide pattern that starts with basic sensory wiring, not just social behavior.

If a learner stares at materials before answering, don’t assume non-compliance. The pause may be perceptual glue drying. Offer longer wait time, break complex visuals into fewer parts, or pre-teach the whole object. Faster integration may free brain space for social responding and reduce visible ‘rigidity’ without needing a separate flexibility program.