Understanding sex/gender differences in intelligence profiles of children with Autism: A comprehensive WISC meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Intelligence assessment in children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) often sparks debates about sex/gender differences. Specifically, the question arises whether girls exhibit lower performance on intelligence scales compared to boys. This meta-analysis examines nine studies (N=1105; 809 boys and 296 girls) to quantify sex/gender differences on the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC) in children with ASD, comparing their results to typically developing children. METHOD AND PROCEDURES: Random-effects meta-analyses on WISC indices and subtests were conducted to address the heterogeneity across effect sizes. Results for children with ASD were compared to those of typically developing children. OUTCOMES AND RESULTS: Findings revealed no significant differences in general intellectual functioning (full-scale IQ), verbal comprehension, working memory, or processing speed between boys and girls in children with ASD. Boys showed an advantage only in the perceptual reasoning index. At the subtest level, boys outperformed on certain tasks, while girls excelled in others. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: The observed pattern of differences in the ASD population aligns quantitatively with those in typically developing populations. Differences, if present, are specific to certain indices rather than general intelligence. These insights contribute to a nuanced understanding of gender-related cognitive variations in the context of ASD.

Affective and cognitive factors associated with Chinese and Italian children's arithmetic performance.

BACKGROUND: This study aimed to investigate the cognitive and affective factors associated with cross-cultural differences in arithmetic tasks. METHODS: A total of 404 third- and fourth- graders were recruited from China and Italy to complete exact arithmetic, arithmetic estimation and cognitive tasks (i.e., short-term memory, executive functions, and fluid reasoning). Their mathematical anxiety was also measured. RESULTS: The results showed that Chinese children performed better than Italian children in both arithmetic tasks and in shifting task. Italian children performed better in visuospatial updating task and reported higher levels of mathematical anxiety than their Chinese peers. Multi-group path analyses showed that the patterns of relations among cognitive factors (i.e., short-term memory, inhibition and shifting), mathematical anxiety, and arithmetic performance were similar across groups. The only exception was that visuospatial updating uniquely predicted arithmetic estimation for Chinese but not for Italian children. CONCLUSIONS: Chinese children outperformed their Italian peers in the exact arithmetic task, likely due to the greater emphasis on arithmetic fluency in Chinese mathematics education, both in schools and at home. They also had a slight advantage than Italian peers in the arithmetic estimation task. The unique link between updating and arithmetic estimation found in Chinese children but not Italian children suggests that, although arithmetic estimation is not emphasized in the curricula of either country, instruction and practice in exact arithmetic may enhance Chinese children's efficiency in solving arithmetic estimation problems.

In emotion and reading motivation, children with a diagnosis of dyslexia are not just the end of a continuum.

Children with dyslexia (CwD) often report poor psychological well-being. We examined (i) whether anxiety, self-concept and reading motivation in CwD differed from those of typically developing children (TDC; case-control design, Study 1a) and (ii) whether these differences mirrored the linear relationships that these variables present with reading ability in the TDC group (dimensional approach, Study 1b). In Study 1a, 34 CwD were compared with 191 TDC in grades 4-8 on anxiety, self-concept, reading motivation and reading strategy using self-reports (controlling for sex, intelligence and math ability scores). In Study 1b, the differences that emerged in Study 1a were compared with the results obtained from a simulation procedure that generated dyslexia observations under the assumptions of a dimensional hypothesis. The CwD group presented small-to-moderate difficulties, which partially mirrored the predictions in the TDC group. However, violations of predictions based on the population without dyslexia were found for reading self-concept, social anxiety and reading competitiveness. In sum, children's diagnoses affect their self-perception as readers and social anxiety in a way that cannot be inferred from linear relationships. CwD need support to preserve an adequate image of themselves as readers and cope with social anxiety.

"Picture this from there": spatial perspective-taking in developmental visuospatial disorder and developmental coordination disorder.

Introduction: Either Developmental Visuospatial Disorder (DVSD) and Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD) present with difficulties in visuospatial processing, even though entailing different degrees of impairment. Among the visuospatial domain, spatial perspective taking is essential to interact with the environment and is significantly involved in many daily activities (e.g., environment navigation and spatial orienting). Notwithstanding, no previous studies have investigated this spatial domain in children with DVSD and limited evidence is available regarding DCD. Consistent with a transdiagnostic approach, the first goal of the present study was to compare spatial perspective taking abilities of these groups, also including a control group of not diagnosed peers (ND). Secondly, the role of different fine-motor and visuo-spatial predictors on the spatial perspective taking performance was considered. Method: A total of 85 participants (DVSD = 26; DCD = 26; ND = 33), aged between 8 and 16 years old, were included in the study. Tasks assessing spatial perspective taking, fine-motor, visual imagery, and mental rotation skills, as well as visuo-spatial working memory were administered. Results and Discussion: Overall, our results confirmed weaknesses in spatial perspective taking in both clinical groups, with the DVSD obtaining the lowest scores. Similarities and differences in the predictors accounting for the performance in the spatial perspective taking task emerged, suggesting the possible employment of different fine-motor or visuospatial strategies by group. Findings are discussed considering the potential impact they may have both in research and clinical practice.

Estimating the prevalence of Non-Verbal Learning Disability (NVLD) from the ABCD sample.

Non-Verbal Learning Disability (NVLD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by deficits in processing visuospatial information but with age-appropriate verbal skills. This cognitive profile has been hypothesized to be associated with atypical white matter, but at the present there is a lack of evidence for this hypothesis. Currently, the condition is not characterized within the main diagnostic systems, in part because no clear set of criteria for characterizing the disorder exists. This report is the first attempt to estimate NVLD prevalence, using two sets of diagnostic criteria, in a large sample of over 11,000 children who were selected without regards to problems of specific nature, either psychological, neurological, physical and/or social. Furthermore, it examined the association between the profile of cognitive abilities and aspects of whole-brain white matter measures in children with and without symptoms associated with NVLD. Participants were drawn from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) study, a 10-year longitudinal study of 11,876 children in the U.S. The data used in the present study were drawn from the initial testing point at which the children were 9-10 years old. Prevalence of NVLD based on two distinct sets of criteria, correlations between the measures used to create the criteria, correlations between criteria measures and measures of white matter integrity. The cognitive criteria included measures of visuospatial processing, reading, intelligence and social skills. By varying the cut-offs applied to social skills in conjunction with visuo-spatial difficulties, spared reading skills and intelligence scores, we calculated prevalence for two NVLD groups. White matter characteristics were measures of volume, fractional anisotropy and mean diffusivity. Based on the criteria used, the estimated prevalence of NVLD varied from 1 to 8%. Furthermore, children with NVLD showed a dissociation between measures of visuo-spatial processing not observed in non-NVLD children. At the neurological level, findings provide preliminary evidence of associations between the cognitive profile of NVLD and abnormalities in white matters tracts. The present study documents that exists, within this large non-selected sample, a proportion of youth who show evidence of NVLD. Given those results, it appears essential to establish the best diagnostic criteria, to improve the treatment options and quality of life for children with this disorder.

Social Functioning in Children and Adolescents with ADHD and Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Cross-Disorder Comparison.

OBJECTIVE: Social functioning can be defined according to three main components: social perception, social performance, and social knowledge. Although they are important in daily life relationships and in children's adaptation, these components have never been tested together in children and adolescents with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) or with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) using lab-based tasks. The present study used a cross-disorder approach to compare the performance of children with ADHD and ASD and non-diagnosed (ND) peers utilizing a task that involves these three fundamental social functioning components. METHODS: Two hundred and twenty-five Italian children (86% boys) aged between 8 and 16 (66 with a clinical diagnosis of ADHD; 51 with a clinical diagnosis of ASD, level 1; 108 ND children) were enrolled. The three groups were matched for age, gender, and IQ. Social functioning was assessed using a lab-based task, including videos of problematic interactions among peers, created ad hoc for the study, and a semi-structured interview based on the Social Information Processing model. RESULTS: Data were analyzed using one-way ANOVAs and multinomial mixed effects models. Our findings suggested that both groups with ADHD and ASD presented social functioning difficulties in comparison to ND children. However, a different pattern of performance emerged. Children with ADHD showed higher difficulties in social performance than those with ASD, whereas autistic children revealed more difficulties in social perception and in some aspects of social knowledge. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings have important clinical implications for assessment, intervention, and differential diagnosis, and should encourage clinicians to investigate different aspects of social functioning and identify specific strengths and weaknesses in each social profile.

Let's face it! The role of social anxiety and executive functions in recognizing others' emotions from faces: Evidence from autism and specific learning disorders.

Youth with different developmental disorders might experience challenges when dealing with facial emotion recognition (FER). By comparing FER and related emotional and cognitive factors across developmental disorders, researchers can gain a better understanding of challenges and strengths associated with each condition. The aim of the present study was to investigate how social anxiety and executive functioning might underlie FER in youth with and without autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and specific learning disorders (SLD). The study involved 263 children and adolescents between 8 and 16 years old divided into three groups matched for age, sex, and IQ: 60 (52 M) with ASD without intellectual disability, 63 (44 M) with SLD, and 140 (105 M) non-diagnosed. Participants completed an FER test, three executive functions' tasks (inhibition, updating, and set-shifting), and parents filled in a questionnaire reporting their children's social anxiety. Our results suggest that better FER was consistent with higher social anxiety and better updating skills in ASD, while with lower social anxiety in SLD. Clinical practice should focus on coping strategies in autistic youth who could feel anxiety when facing social cues, and on self-efficacy and social worries in SLD. Executive functioning should also be addressed to support social learning in autism.

The Structure of Working Memory and Its Relationship with Intelligence in Japanese Children.

There is a host of research on the structure of working memory (WM) and its relationship with intelligence in adults, but only a few studies have involved children. In this paper, several different WM models were tested on 170 Japanese school children (from 7 years and 5 months to 11 years and 6 months). Results showed that a model distinguishing between modalities (i.e., verbal and spatial WM) fitted the data well and was therefore selected. Notably, a bi-factor model distinguishing between modalities, but also including a common WM factor, presented with a very good fit, but was less parsimonious. Subsequently, we tested the predictive power of the verbal and spatial WM factors on fluid and crystallized intelligence. Results indicated that the shared contribution of WM explained the largest portion of variance of fluid intelligence, with verbal and spatial WM independently explaining a residual portion of the variance. Concerning crystallized intelligence, however, verbal WM explained the largest portion of the variance, with the joint contribution of verbal and spatial WM explaining the residual part. The distinction between verbal and spatial WM could be important in clinical settings (e.g., children with atypical development might struggle selectively on some WM components) and in school settings (e.g., verbal and spatial WM might be differently implicated in mathematical achievement).

Trajectory assessments of cognitive, visuospatial, and academic profile in nonverbal learning disability (visuospatial developmental disorder).

Substantial progress has been made in defining children with nonverbal learning disability (NLD), but longitudinal studies are still lacking. To start filling this gap, we examined changes in general cognitive functioning, visuo-constructive skills, and academic profiles in a group of children with NLD, also taking into account any internalizing and externalizing symptom as transdiagnostic features. A total of 30 participants (24 boys) diagnosed with NLD were tested twice, with a three-year gap between the two assessments (T1: at age 8-13; T2: at 11-16), on their cognitive profile, visuospatial abilities, and academic performance (i.e., reading, writing and arithmetic abilities). At T2, any internalizing and externalizing symptom was also investigated. Statistically significant differences emerged between the two assessments in terms of the WISC-IV Perceptual Reasoning Index (PRI), handwriting speed and arithmetical fact retrieval. The NLD profile seems to be characterized by a relative stability in its core features during a child's development, as regards both weaknesses (i.e., visuospatial processing) and strengths (i.e., verbal abilities). The presence of internalizing and externalizing symptoms also suggested the importance to analyze transdiagnostic features rather than only sharp boundaries between conditions.

Parenting stress in autism: do children's characteristics still count more than stressors related to the COVID-19 pandemic?

Parents of children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) experience higher levels of stress than parents of typically-developing (TD) children, due to differences in their children's emotional functioning. The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated the cognitive and practical demands on vulnerable populations and their families. The aim of this study was to examine parenting stress levels in parents of children ASD and TD children, considering the children's emotional functioning (i.e., anxiety and cognitive emotion regulation strategies), and stressful life events deriving from the COVID-19 pandemic. The study involved 64 parent-child dyads comprising children from 7 to 16 years old, divided into two groups: 32 (26 M) children and adolescents with ASD but no intellectual disability, and 32 (26 M) with typical development. Our results show that parents of children with ASD reported higher levels of stress, but factors relating to the child and the context had a different influence on parenting stress in the ASD and TD groups. The higher level of parenting stress in the ASD group seemed to relate more to the children's emotional characteristics, while the TD group was more affected by the unpredictable stressful events prompted by COVID-19. Families' mental health should be considered a core aspect of supporting parents having to deal with both their child's emotional adjustment and the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Resting State Dynamic Reconfiguration of Spatial Attention Cortical Networks and Visuospatial Functioning in Non-Verbal Learning Disability (NVLD): A HD-EEG Investigation.

Nonverbal learning disability (NVLD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by deficits in visuospatial processing but spared verbal competencies. Neurocognitive markers may provide confirmatory evidence for characterizing NVLD as a separate neurodevelopmental disorder. Visuospatial performance and high-density electroencephalography (EEG) were measured in 16 NLVD and in 16 typically developing (TD) children. Cortical source modeling was applied to assess resting-state functional connectivity (rs-FC) in spatial attention networks (dorsal (DAN) and ventral attention networks (VAN)) implicated in visuospatial abilities. A machine-learning approach was applied to investigate whether group membership could be predicted from rs-FC maps and if these connectivity patterns were predictive of visuospatial performance. Graph theoretical measures were applied to nodes inside each network. EEG rs-FC maps in the gamma and beta band differentiated children with and without NVLD, with increased but more diffuse and less efficient functional connections bilaterally in the NVLD group. While rs-FC of the left DAN in the gamma range predicted visuospatial scores for TD children, in the NVLD group rs-FC of the right DAN in the delta range predicted impaired visuospatial performance, confirming that NVLD is a disorder with a predominant dysfunction in right hemisphere connectivity patterns.

Visuo-Spatial Working Memory and Mathematical Skills in Children: A Network Analysis Study.

Visuo-spatial working memory is one of the main domain-general cognitive mechanisms underlying mathematical abilities and their development in children. However, if visuo-spatial working memory involves different processes and components, then the term 'mathematics' refers to a broad concept that includes multiple domains and skills. The aim of this present study was to investigate the relationship between different visuo-spatial working memory components and several mathematical abilities in a sample of third- to fifth-grade Italian children. To assess the relationships between different visuo-spatial working memory components and different mathematical abilities, we relied on Network Analysis (NA). Results indicate that some but not all visuo-spatial working memory components are associated with some mathematical abilities.

Multidimensional components of (state) mathematics anxiety: Behavioral, cognitive, emotional, and psychophysiological consequences.

The present study aimed to analyze the different components of state mathematics anxiety that students experienced while solving calculation problems by manipulating their stress levels. A computerized mathematical task was administered to 165 fifth-graders randomly assigned to three different groups: positive, negative, and control conditions, in which positive, negative, or no feedback during the task was given, respectively. Behavioral (task performance), emotional (negative feelings), cognitive (worrisome thoughts and perceived competence), and psychophysiological responses (skin conductance and vagal withdrawal) were analyzed. Behavioral responses did not differ in the positive and negative conditions, while the latter was associated with children's reportedly negative emotional states, worries, and perceived lack of competence. The stress induced in the negative condition led to an increase in skin conductance and cardiac vagal withdrawal in children. Our data suggest the importance of considering students' interpretation of mathematics-related experiences, which might affect their emotional, cognitive, and psychophysiological responses.

Social perception in children and adolescents with ADHD: The role of higher-order cognitive skills.

Despite children with ADHD frequently experiencing difficulties in social perception, the mechanisms underlying this impairment have been poorly explored. In this study, we examined social perception in children with ADHD, comparing them with typically-developing (TD) children on semi-naturalistic tasks, and considering the effect of nonverbal signal recognition. Our aim was to ascertain whether the two groups' social perception related to different types of stimulus (video, audio or combined/multimodal). The role of three higher-order cognitive skills (theory of mind, attention and pragmatic language) was also investigated. Thirty-six children with ADHD, and 36 TD controls were tested. Social perception was significantly associated with participants' ability to recognize nonverbal signals, and with the stimulus presentation modality. Children with ADHD only performed less well than TD children with combined stimuli. As concerns the higher-order cognitive skills, theory of mind had a significant role in both groups, but only with the video and combined stimuli, while attention explained most of the variance in social perception for all types of stimulus. Better pragmatic language skills were only associated with a better social perception in TD children, whatever the type of stimulus presented. Semi-naturalistic tasks should be included when assessing social perception in ADHD, and both theory of mind and attention should be the object of efforts to enhance social perception in the ADHD population.

Distance learning during the COVID-19 pandemic for children with ADHD and/or ASD: a European multi-center study examining the role of executive function deficits and age.

BACKGROUND: One of the COVID-19 pandemic consequences that has affected families the most is school lockdowns. Some studies have shown that distance learning has been especially challenging for families with a child with neurodevelopmental disorders such as ADHD or ASD. However, previous studies have not taken the heterogeneity of these disorders into account. The aim of the present study was therefore to investigate differences between families with a child with ADHD, ASD, or both conditions, and to examine the role of underlying deficits in executive functioning (EF) in both children and parents in relation to negative and positive effects of distance learning. METHODS: Survey data assessing both negative and positive experiences of distance learning were collected from parents with a child aged 5-19 years in seven Western European countries: the UK, Germany, Spain, Sweden, the Netherlands, Italy, and Belgium. Altogether, the study included 1010 families with a child with ADHD and/or ASD and an equally large comparison group of families with a child without mental health problems. We included measures of three different types of negative effects (i.e., effects on the child, effects on the parent, and lack of support from school) and positive effects on the family. RESULTS: Results confirmed that families with a child with ADHD, ASD or a combination of ADHD and ASD showed higher levels of both negative and positive effects of distance learning than the comparison group. However, few differences were found between the clinical groups. Group differences were more pronounced for older compared to younger children. Regarding the role of both ADHD/ASD diagnosis and EF deficits, primarily children's EF deficits contributed to high levels of negative effects. Parent EF deficits did not contribute significantly beyond the influence of child EF deficits. Families of children with ADHD/ASD without EF deficits experienced the highest levels of positive effects. CONCLUSIONS: School closings during COVID-19 have a major impact on children with EF problems, including children with neurodevelopmental disorders. The present study emphasizes that schools should not focus primarily on whether a student has a neurodevelopmental disorder, but rather provide support based on the student's individual profile of underlying neuropsychological deficits.

Callous-Unemotional Traits and Intelligence in Children with Externalizing Behavioral Problems.

Research on the association between callous-unemotional (CU) traits and intelligence yielded contradictory results. Moreover, several previous studies focused on global intelligence scores or verbal vs. nonverbal/performance abilities usually evaluated with short/abbreviated instruments. The current study builds on these previous works and explores the link between CU traits and intelligence using the full version of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-4th Edition (WISC-IV), which provides four different verbal and nonverbal abilities scores. This guarantees a more detailed evaluation of children's intelligence and its relation to CU traits. The sample included children (N = 149; age 6-14 years old) with severe behavioral problems. Clinicians administered the WISC-IV, and parents completed questionnaires evaluating the child's externalizing problems and CU traits. Findings showed that CU traits were associated with lower verbal comprehension scores after also controlling for gender, age, externalizing problems, and the other WISC-IV indexes. In addition, CU traits and externalizing problems did not interact in predicting the WISC-IV indexes, and there were no significant differences in the WISC-IV indexes between children with CU traits and high vs. low externalizing problems. The current study suggests the relevance of assessing and addressing verbal abilities in children with behavioral problems and CU traits.

Externalizing and Internalizing Behaviors in Children with ADHD during Lockdown for COVID-19: The Role of Parental Emotions, Parenting Strategies, and Breaking Lockdown Rules.

Lockdown experience for COVID-19 pandemic significantly affected children and adolescents with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) exacerbating or promoting the onset of externalizing and internalizing symptoms. However, few studies have considered how externalizing and internalizing behaviors changed in relation to parental emotions and parenting strategies. In the present study, 992 caregivers of children and adolescents with ADHD from 5 to 18 years were presented with an online survey evaluating youths' externalizing and internalizing behaviors, their non-compliance with lockdown rules, and parental factors related to parental emotions and parenting strategies. Two hierarchical linear regression models were performed to examine the contribution of children's non-compliance with lockdown rules, parental emotions, and parenting strategies on children's externalizing and internalizing behaviors. Results revealed that externalizing behaviors were higher in children and adolescents with ADHD non-compliant with lockdown rules. Moreover, positive parenting strategies moderated the relationship between non-compliance with lockdown rules and externalizing behaviors. Differently, higher internalizing behaviors were observed in children with ADHD who had parents reporting more negative emotions and positive parenting strategies. In this case, parents' negative emotions had a moderator effect in the association between internalizing behaviors and non-compliance to lockdown measures. The clinical implications of these two different patterns of relations are discussed.

Do comorbid symptoms discriminate between autism spectrum disorder, ADHD and nonverbal learning disability?

Characterizing the functioning of individuals with neurodevelopmental disorders is crucial to their diagnosis. Research has found that children with different neurodevelopmental disorders, including autism spectrum disorders (ASD), attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and nonverbal learning disability (NLD), may have comorbid symptoms of anxiety and depression, and problems with pragmatic language. The main aim of the present study was to identify any differences in the above-mentioned comorbid symptoms associated with these clinical profiles. A second aim was to establish how well signs of pragmatic language difficulties could discriminate between the three clinical profiles, in terms of their diagnostic power. For this purpose, 107 participants from 8 to 16 years old with a diagnosis of ASD, ADHD or NLD were compared with a group of typically-developing children. Self-reports on symptoms of anxiety and depression, and parents' reports on social and communication problems were analyzed. Our findings confirmed that symptoms of anxiety and depression, and problems with pragmatic language are associated with different neurodevelopmental disorders, but not in the same way. In terms of diagnostic power, we found that pragmatic language difficulties clearly discriminated children with ASD, ADHD or NLD from typically-developing children. Importantly, pragmatic language difficulties also discriminated adequately between ASD and NLD. Our findings are discussed in terms of the value of considering comorbid symptoms to obtain a more accurate diagnosis of neurodevelopmental disorders.

Executive functions, math anxiety and math performance in middle school students.

Previous studies mainly investigated working memory (WM) and math anxiety (MA) leaving almost unexplored other aspects of executive functions (EFs) in middle school period. Filling the gap in the literature, the aims of this study were: (1) to better examine the relationship between MA and math performance, (2) to better examine the relationship between EFs and math performance and (3) to investigate the interplay between EFs and MA on math performances. This study confirmed a significant and negative relationship between MA and math performance, indicates a significant and positive relationship between visuospatial WM and math performance, shifting and math performance and highlight a scarcely investigated indirect influence of MA through the measure of shifting on math performance. Our findings shed further light on the mediating role of EFs between MA and math performance and underline some future perspectives.

Do children with and without autism spectrum disorder use different visuospatial processing skills to perform the Rey-Osterrieth complex figure test?

Visuospatial organization abilities are closely related to other visuospatial processing skills, such as visuomotor coordination, perceptual abilities, mental rotation, and working memory (WM). One task that enables visuospatial organization abilities to be investigated is the Rey-Osterrieth complex figure test (ROCFT). When examining visuospatial functioning, individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have proved capable of operating both locally and globally, depending on the sub-domain embraced, with a preference for a locally-oriented processing of visuospatial information. The present research aimed to establish whether different underlying visuospatial skills might account for performance in the ROCFT in children and adolescents with ASD, compared with typically developing (TD), by considering the role of local/global visuospatial processing. The study involved 39 participants who have ASD without intellectual disability, and 57 TD aged 8-16 years. The participants were administered tasks assessing visuospatial organization abilities, manual dexterity, visual perception, mental rotation, spatial-sequential, spatial-simultaneous WM, and visuospatial processing. Our results suggest that manual dexterity and visuospatial processing similarly explain performance in both groups, while differences in visuospatial WM account for the two groups' visuospatial organization abilities. Spatial-simultaneous WM predicted performance in copy and recall conditions in the TD group but not in the ASD group, while spatial-sequential WM only did so in the latter group, reinforcing the tendency of children with ASD towards local bias in the visuospatial organization domain. The implications of these findings are discussed. LAY SUMMARY: The visuospatial organization abilities of children and adolescents with and without autism were compared, considering their underlying visuospatial skills. Visuospatial organization impairments emerged for children with autism, who differed from typically developing children in the underlying visuospatial skills involved. Given the crucial role of visuospatial organization abilities in everyday life, our results could inspire practitioners to develop training interventions that take into account the strengths and weaknesses of individuals with autism.