Relationship between Cognitive skills and Social Skills among Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Abstract

Autism is a neurodevelopmental disorder affecting the child's brain, which involves impairment in social interaction, communication, and engagement in repetitive, peculiar mannerisms. These behavioral abnormalities are observed soon after birth and are fully expressed in the first year of the child’s life. ASD is a condition whereby children have learning and development problems particularly, with the skills that involve intellect and social competence children with ASD face a lot of challenges. The analysis demonstrated that in the ASD group, cognition correlates with internalizing issues. In contrast, socialization correlates with both internalizing and externalizing difficulties—furthermore, the present research targeted to analyze the correlation between Cognition and Social skills in children with ASD. As for the instrument, the Slosson test and Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales (VABS) were employed; the data were collected from 100 ASD children and their parents with the assistance of teachers from different public and private institutions in Lahore. The data collected in this study were analyzed using SPSS software. The data showed that there are no gender differences in cognitive and social development. The Pearson Product correlation results proved that there exists a strong positive correlation between the two variables which are the cognitive and social skills among children with ASD. The outcomes of the ANOVA indicate no significant difference in the cognitive and social skills of three different socioeconomic statuses. Therefore, one can assert that the level of general cognitive abilities is positively related to the development of social competencies in children with ASD.  The results showed that intervention regarding cognitive development may well impact the child's social development. Future research should explore longitudinal effects and intervention efficacy.