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Examining an Executive Function Battery for Use with Preschool Children with Disabilities

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Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Performance-based assessments of EF for use with young children who have or are at risk for disabilities are lacking. The current study investigates the use of a computerized battery for children with subclinical behaviors (N = 846) across a variety of developmental disabilities and evaluates practical information about feasibility of task administration. Results reveal that children with disabilities performed similarly to their typically developing peers across a variety of metrics for evaluating the battery, ranging from percent correct scores to administrator quality ratings. Thus, the battery may be considered an easy-to-administer, performance-based assessment tool in which children with disabilities do not perform systemically worse than typically developing peers.

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Acknowledgments

This project was supported by Institute of Educational Sciences Grant R324A120033. The views expressed in this manuscript are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the opinions or position of the Institute of Educational Sciences.

Author Contributions

LJK conceived of the study, supervised data processing, performed the statistical analysis, and drafted the manuscript. MTW conceived of the study, contributed to data processing, statistical analysis and helped to draft of the manuscript. CBB conceived of the study, participated in the design of the study and helped to draft of the manuscript. RM recruited participants and helped to draft of the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Campus Box 8185, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599-3270, USA

    Laura J. Kuhn

  2. RTI International, Research Triangle Park, Durham, NC, USA

    Michael T. Willoughby

  3. Department of Applied Psychology, New York University, New York, NY, USA

    Clancy B. Blair & Rachel McKinnon

Authors
  1. Laura J. Kuhn
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  2. Michael T. Willoughby
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  3. Clancy B. Blair
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  4. Rachel McKinnon
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Correspondence to Laura J. Kuhn.

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Conflict of interest

Authors Laura J. Kuhn, Michael T. Willoughby, Clancy B. Blair and Rachel McKinnon declares that they have no conflict of interest.

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Kuhn, L.J., Willoughby, M.T., Blair, C.B. et al. Examining an Executive Function Battery for Use with Preschool Children with Disabilities. J Autism Dev Disord 47, 2586–2594 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-017-3177-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-017-3177-2

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