title: Executive function predicts the development of play skills for verbal preschoolers with autism spectrum disorders.
abstract: Executive function and play skills develop in early childhood and are linked to cognitive and language ability. The present study examined these abilities longitudinally in two groups with autism spectrum disorder-a group with higher initial language (n = 30) and a group with lower initial language ability (n = 36). Among the lower language group, concurrent nonverbal cognitive ability contributed most to individual differences in executive function and play skills. For the higher language group, executive function during preschool significantly predicted play ability at age 6 over and above intelligence, but early play did not predict later executive function. These results suggested that factors related to the development of play and executive function differ for subgroups of children with different language abilities and that early executive function skills may be critical in order for verbal children with autism to develop play. Autism Res 2016, 9: 1274-1284. © 2016 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
authors.affiliation: Laboratories of Cognitive Neuroscience, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts.|Departments of Pediatrics and Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts.
authors.forename: Susan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Faja
authors.affiliation: Departments of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Pediatrics, and Psychology and Neuroscience, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina.
authors.forename: Geraldine
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Dawson
authors.affiliation: Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, New York University, New York, New York.|Department of Psychology, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington.
authors.forename: Katherine
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sullivan
authors.affiliation: Department of Speech and Hearing Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington.
authors.forename: Andrew N
authors.initials: AN
authors.lastname: Meltzoff
authors.affiliation: Department of Speech and Hearing Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington.
authors.forename: Annette
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Estes
authors.affiliation: Departments of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and Educational Psychology, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington.
authors.forename: Raphael
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Bernier
mesh_terms: D000067877:Autism Spectrum Disorder / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology*; D002648:Child; D002657:Child Development / Q000502:physiology*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D056344:Executive Function / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010988:Play and Playthings / Q000523:psychology*
keywords: autism; executive function; inhibition; language; play; spatial working memory