Executive function "drives" differences in simulated driving performance between young adults with and without autism spectrum disorder.

Individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) may experience greater difficulty learning to drive than peers who do not have ASD, but reasons for those differences are unclear. This study examined how diagnostic symptoms of ASD and commonly co-morbid executive dysfunction relate to differences in simulated driving performance between young, inexperienced drivers with and without ASD. Participants included 98 young adults, ages 16-26 years, half of which were diagnosed with ASD.

Driving Comparisons Between Young Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder and Typical Development.

Objective: Many individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are reluctant to pursue driving because of concerns about their ability to drive safely. This study aimed to assess differences in simulated driving performance in young adults with ASD and typical development, examining relationships between driving performance and the level of experience (none, driver's permit, licensed) across increasingly difficult driving environments.

Method: Participants included 50 English-speaking young adults (16-26 years old) with ASD matched for sex, age, and licensure with 50 typically-developing (TD) peers.

The role of the independent neuropsychologist in special education.

Neuropsychologists are playing an increasing role in special education. We explain steps that neuropsychologists can take to ethically and effectively approach the "quasi-forensic" role of independent evaluator. Because neuropsychologists may provide reports for treatment, school programming, and legal disputes, it is important that they are familiar with the school programming process and the unique litigation procedures available for children with disabilities in special education.

Sometimes area counts more than number.

Using an interference paradigm, we show across three experiments that adults' order judgments of numbers, sizes, or combined area of dots in pairs of arrays occur spontaneously and automatically, but at different speeds and levels of accuracy. Experiment 1 used circles whose sizes varied between but not within arrays. Variation in circle size interfered with judgments of which array had more circles.