Neuropsychiatric Disease and Treatment (Sep 2022)
The Performance of Visual, Auditory, and Motor Cognitive Flexibility for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder in Taiwan
Abstract
Chien-Lin Lin,1 Ching-Ping Shen,2 Chin-Kai Lin3 1Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, China Medical University Hospital, Taiwan and School of Chinese Medicine, College of Chinese Medicine, China Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan; 2National Chung-Shan Institute of Science & Technology Shi-Yuan Polyclinic, Taipei, Taiwan; 3Program of Early Intervention, Department of Early Childhood Education, National Taichung University of Education, Taichung, TaiwanCorrespondence: Chin-Kai Lin, National Taichung University of Education, 140 Min-Shen Road, Taichung, 40306, Taiwan, Tel +886 4-22183007, Fax +886 4-22183380, Email [email protected]: Few studies have tested the cognitive flexibility, specifically auditory and motor flexibility of children with ASD. This study was conducted to understand the relationship between cognitive flexibility and visual, auditory, and motor development in young children with ASD and autistic behaviors.Participants and methods: A purposive sampling approach was used to screen nineteen four- to five-year-old ASD children. Tests included the Autism Behavior Checklist-Taiwan Version and Cognitive Flexibility Test, which included visual, auditory, and motor cognitive flexibility subtests.Results: At the pre-switch and post-switch of three subtests, there were considerable variations in the number of ASD passing. According to the findings, children aged five had more visual cognitive flexibility than children aged four, but the lack of significant differences for the other flexibilities. The negative correlation of the three cognitive flexibilities with autistic behaviors was − 0.57∼-0.64.Conclusion: Children with ASD have significant difficulties in switching rule tasks characterized by visual, auditory, and motor cognitive flexibility. The results suggest that visual cognitive flexibility had an age effect. The negative correlation of the three cognitive flexibilities with autistic behaviors was moderate.Keywords: executive function, autistic behavior, preschooler, mental flexibility
