Slow but Steady: Similarities and Differences in Executive Functioning Between Autistic and Non-Autistic Adults.

The groups were not randomly assigned; autistic and non-autistic status came from diagnosis, so the study cannot show what causes any differences. The tasks were completed online in a fixed order, and the later experiments had fewer participants because some people did not return for the second session. The autistic sample was disproportionately adults diagnosed later in life and with high estimated intelligence, so the findings may not apply to autistic people with intellectual disability or very different cognitive profiles. ADHD status was self-reported, and ADHD may be missed in autistic people, so the ADHD analyses may not capture all co-occurring cases. Slower reaction times were common, but the study did not separate perception, decision making, movement or strategy as possible reasons. The tasks were narrow laboratory measures, so they may not reflect executive function demands in daily life.

The supplied text does not include a conflict-of-interest declaration or funding statement. The publication types list non-U.S. government research support.

Do not read slower response times as proof that autistic adults have executive-function deficits. The study did not show whether slowing came from perception, decision making, movement or strategy, and several core executive-function measures showed little group difference.