Identification of strengths and difficulties in early executive functions amongst toddlers with a connection to autism or ADHD

Autism and ADHD are often associated with difficulties with Executive Functions (EFs) in childhood and adulthood, but due to measurement challenges, the prevalence and nature of these difficulties in early development is not well understood. Potential strengths have also been overlooked.

In this talk I will describe the measures that colleagues and I have developed to capture individual differences in EFs and related foundational skills in toddlerhood, including touchscreen, object-based, and eye-tracking tasks, and parent report measures. I will then present evidence from multiple studies indicating early difficulties in particular aspects of EFs amongst children with a family history of autism or ADHD at ages 20 months, 24 months and 36 months, but also evidence for strengths associated with a family history of ADHD, and ADHD-related traits.

This talk is part of a webinar series from the Centre for Educational Neuroscience at UCL, Birkbeck University and the UCL IoE. You can register here to receive weekly updates about the seminar series.