The Level of Executive Functioning Skills and Sensory Disorders for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder in the United Arab Emirates

Abstract

The current study aimed to assess the level of executive functioning skills and sensory disorders among children with autism spectrum disorder in the United Arab Emirates. The sample included 103 cases of children with autism spectrum disorder (69 males and 34 females) enrolled in public and private special education centers in the United Arab Emirates. To achieve the aim of the study, the researchers constructed a scale of executive functional skills and a scale of sensory disorders. The validity and reliability of the two scales were verified. In order to answer the questions of the study, the descriptive survey methodology was used, and the means, standard deviations, and multiple two-way analysis of variance were used to process the data and reach the results. The results indicated that children with autism spectrum disorder showed low levels of executive functioning skills and moderate levels of sensory disorders. It also indicated that there was an effect of the severity of autism spectrum disorder and that there was no effect of the gender variable. The study recommended that the results of assessing executive functioning skills and sensory disorders should be included in the treatment programs.