The Role of Theory of Mind, Executive Functions, and Central Coherence in Reading Comprehension for Children with ASD and Typical Development

Many children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) have challenges in reading comprehension, especially when implicit information in narrative texts is involved. Three interrelated factors infuencing reading comprehension have been proposed to explain these challenges: Theory of Mind – ToM; executive functions – EF; and central coherence – CC. This study investigated the diferential contribution of these cognitive abilities to reading comprehension among cognitively able children with ASD compared to matched peers with typical development (TD). 28 third-grade children with ASD and 28 third-grade children with TD participated in the study. Four measures were administered: ToM, CC, EF (working memory, planning, inhibitory control, cognitive fexibility), and reading comprehension. One-way ANOVAs were computed to examine group diferences in cognitive characteristics (ToM, CC, EF) and reading comprehension. Regressions were performed to examine the contribution of cognitive characteristics (ToM, CC, EF) to reading comprehension abilities (explicit, implicit, and general score) in ASD and TD. The TD group outperformed the ASD group in ToM and various EF measures but not in CC or reading comprehension. Positive main efects were found for ToM, and EF measures (planning – 3rd level, inhibition, and cognitive fexibility), demonstrating their contribution to reading comprehension abilities in both groups. Interactions revealed positive main efects for EF planning and CC for the ASD group only, showing the contribution of EF planning and CC for better reading comprehension. Our fndings suggest diferent processing mechanisms regarding reading comprehension in each group.