Executive Functioning in 60+ Autistic Males: The Discrepancy Between Experienced Challenges and Cognitive Performance.

The study included only men aged 60 to 85 with IQ at least 80, so it does not speak to autistic women, autistic adults with intellectual disability, or people with lower IQ. The autistic group was recruited from an outpatient clinic and had received a first diagnosis in late adulthood, which may select people who sought assessment or had particular support needs. Diagnoses were made by clinical judgement and local guidelines, not verified with standardized autism assessment tools. The groups were not individually matched and the autistic group was slightly younger than the comparison group. The study was cross-sectional, so it cannot show how executive function changes as these men age. Proxies were chosen by participants and were not uniform; their relationship to the participant was not recorded well enough to check its effect on proxy reports. The sample is still relatively small, and the authors note that a subgroup of older autistic adults may show cognitive problems even if the group average does not.

The paper states that the funder was NWO. The supplied text does not include a separate conflict-of-interest declaration.

Do not conclude that older autistic men have no executive function difficulties because their test scores were similar to non-autistic men. The study found no objective test differences, but the autistic men and their proxies reported more everyday executive function problems.