en Health Health Original Research Original Research <span style="font-size:13pt"><span style="text-justify:kashida"><span style="text-kashida:0%"><span style="text-autospace:none"><span new="" roman="" style="font-family:" times=""><span style="font-style:italic"><b>&nbsp;&nbsp;</b><b><span style="font-size:9.0pt"><span style="font-style:normal">&nbsp; Background: </span></span></b><span style="font-size:9.0pt"><span style="font-style:normal">Various studies have shown that individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) experience significant cognitive impairments during childhood. Individuals often experience various language disorders that can manifest in different ways. There are also studies indicating that these impairments persist into adulthood for individuals with ASD. This study aimed to evaluate and identify cognitive impairments among Persian-speaking adults with ASD. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br> <span style="font-size:13pt"><span style="text-justify:kashida"><span style="text-kashida:0%"><span style="text-autospace:none"><span new="" roman="" style="font-family:" times=""><span style="font-style:italic"><span style="font-size:9.0pt"><span style="font-style:normal">&nbsp;&nbsp; <b>Methods: </b>This research is of a quantitative nature and has been conducted using an experimental method in which two subtests from the Persian Version of the Montreal Protocol for the Evaluation of Communication (P.M.E.C.), including the Metaphor Interpretation and Speech Act Interpretation subtests, were utilized. Thirteen Persian-speaking men with ASD participated in this research, with ages ranging from 25 to 44 years (mean age 32.84, standard deviation 4.17), whose educational levels varied from primary school to 20 years of formal education. The control group consisted of 26 healthy Persian-speaking men who were matched in terms of age and educational level with the ASD group. The Kolmogorov-Smirnov test and a paired t-test were used to compare the two groups.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br> <span style="font-size:13pt"><span style="text-justify:kashida"><span style="text-kashida:0%"><span style="text-autospace:none"><span new="" roman="" style="font-family:" times=""><span style="font-style:italic"><span style="font-size:9.0pt"><span style="font-style:normal">&nbsp;&nbsp; <b>Results:</b> The results indicated that the ASD group performed significantly poorer in both the Metaphor Interpretation subtest (</span></span><span style="font-size:9.0pt">P</span><span style="font-size:9.0pt"><span style="font-style:normal"> < 0.001) and the Speech Act Interpretation subtest (</span></span><span style="font-size:9.0pt">P</span><span style="font-size:9.0pt"><span style="font-style:normal"> = 0.033) compared to the healthy control group, suggesting cognitive impairments in their abilities. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br> <span style="font-size:13pt"><span style="text-justify:kashida"><span style="text-kashida:0%"><span style="text-autospace:none"><span new="" roman="" style="font-family:" times=""><span style="font-style:italic"><span style="font-size:9.0pt"><span style="font-style:normal">&nbsp;&nbsp; <b>Conclusion:</b> The findings of this research can be valuable for assessment and intervention purposes in rehabilitation centers, as well as in academic and research settings.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br> &nbsp; Autism Spectrum Disorder, Persian Language, P.M.E.C. Protocol, Cognitive Skills, Metaphor Comprehension, Speech Act Interpretation 297 302 http://mjiri.iums.ac.ir/browse.php?a_code=A-10-8483-1&slc_lang=en&sid=1 Shahed Zandiehrad szandiehrad@googlemail.com 200319475328460088983 0009-0004-0698-3383 No Science and Research University, Tehran, Iran Shahla Raghibdoust sraghibdoust@atu.ac.ir 200319475328460088984 200319475328460088984 Yes Department of General Linguistics, Allameh Tabataba'i University, Tehran, Iran Mohammad Taghi Joghataei payam.mahmoudian67@gmail.com 200319475328460088985 0009-0005-6748-6468 No Department of Anatomy, School of Medicine, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran Arsalan Golfam mohsen.sin.f@gmail.com 200319475328460088986 200319475328460088986 No Department of Linguistics, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran