Abstract：
Adaptive functioning is central to autistic individuals\' independence and well-being. However, autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is associated with poor adaptive functioning, even in the absence of cognitive delays or deficits. This study examined how age and executive function associate with adaptive functioning-particularly the gap between cognitive and adaptive functioning. We addressed our research questions separately for a school-age (N = 101 ages 7-12) cohort and a preschool (N = 48 ages 2 and 4) cohort of autistic children without cognitive delays. Both cohorts of parents reported on their children\'s adaptive and executive functioning skills. The difference between adaptive and cognitive skills was computed for each participant. For each cohort, we evaluated whether adaptive skills decline with age. Next, we measured, in each cohort, whether children\'s executive function corresponded with this gap between their adaptive and cognitive skills. Adaptive functioning did not decline relative to cognitive ability in the younger cohort, but the gap was present in the school-age cohort. Yet, reduced executive function consistently corresponded with a greater cognitive-adaptive gap in socialization domains for both preschool and school-age children. Targeting EF, specifically emotional control, during preschool years may support both adaptive functioning and social connectedness for autistic children without cognitive delays.
摘要：
适应功能是自闭症患者独立和幸福的核心。然而,自闭症谱系障碍（ASD）与不良的适应功能有关，即使没有认知延迟或缺陷。这项研究探讨了年龄和执行功能如何与适应性功能相关联，尤其是认知功能和适应性功能之间的差距。我们分别针对学龄期（N=101年龄7-12岁）和学龄前期（N=48年龄2和4岁）自闭症儿童队列研究了我们的研究问题。两组家长都报告了他们孩子的适应和执行功能技能。为每个参与者计算适应性和认知技能之间的差异。对于每个队列，我们评估了适应性技能是否随着年龄的增长而下降.接下来,我们测量，在每个队列中，儿童的执行功能是否与他们的适应能力和认知能力之间的差距相对应。在年轻的队列中，适应功能相对于认知能力没有下降，但这一差距存在于学龄队列中。然而，对于学龄前儿童和学龄儿童，执行功能降低始终与社会化领域的认知适应性差距更大。瞄准EF,特别是情绪控制，对于没有认知延迟的自闭症儿童,在学龄前期间可能支持适应性功能和社会联系.
