Executive functions in individuals with autism and possible intervention

There have been many psychological theories which tried to unravel the functioning of individuals with autism. This paper perceives autism as an executive function disorder. It focuses mainly on one single component - verbal and nonverbal fluency. The theoretical part of the paper analyzes some of the well-known executive function models. Since at the end the thesis draws conclusions for possible intervention in autism, the knowledge of these models seems to be essential. The methodological aspects of executive function research are tackled as well. The dispute between the supporters of executive dysfunction hypothesis and advocates of its rival theory - Theory of Mind, is still ongoing. Their main arguments are therefore briefly discussed. However, the essence of the theoretical part lies in the executive function profile and the analysis of the main executive components. Conclusions of the theoretical part then lead us to the formulation of empirical hypotheses. In the empirical part 13 individuals with Asperger syndrome and 13 healthy controls were tested. The verbal and nonverbal abilities in both groups were taken into account. Three studies were executed. First of them dealt with the "purity" of fluency tasks and revealed significant influence of intelligence over individuals performance. In the..