The Role of Cognition on Navigational Skills of Children and Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorders

Purpose: This study examined the role of cognition on the navigational process of a speech-generating device (SGD) among individuals with a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The objective was to investigate the role of various cognitive factors (i.e., cognitive flexibility, sustained attention, categorization, fluid reasoning, and working memory) on the ability to navigate an SGD with dynamic paging and taxonomic grids in individuals with ASD. Method: Twenty individuals aged 5 to 20 years with ASD were assessed using the Leiter International Performance Scale-Revised (Roid & Miller, 1997) and the Automated Working Memory Assessment (Alloway, 2007). They also completed a navigational task using an iPad 4 (Apple, 2017; taxonomic organization). Results: Significant correlations between all of the cognitive factors and the ability to navigate an SGD were revealed. A stepwise linear regression suggested that cognitive flexibility was the best predictor of navigational ability with this population. Conclusion: The importance of cognition in the navigational process of an SGD with dynamic paging in children and adolescents with ASD has been highlighted by the results of this study.