Executive Function Assessment in Children with ASD through ENFEN: Guidance for Teachers

Abstract

During the recent years there are an increasing number of children diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in the schools. Some studies have shown that IQ is a good indicator of their social behaviour, but it cannot give a total explanation. Other researches considered executive functions have an important role both in the social and cognitive deficits in children diagnosed with ASD. Ten children with ASD were assessed through ENFEN and WISC-IV at three schools into a competitive research (I+D+i 2010:19478). The aim is to evaluate the performance of ENFEN as a tool to determine these executive functions (planning, inhibition response, working memory and mental flexibility) more related to the diagnosis with ASD. The results suggest children with ASD show lower performance in executive function, mainly planning and mental flexibility. Besides, a relation between ENFEN, IQ and ADI-R exists whereby children with fewer difficulties in ENFEN performance get a higher IQ and simultaneously lower scores on the ADI-R. Some educational strategies for children with ASD were suggested in order to improve their executive functions in the classroom.