Reading in Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Literature Review.

OBJECTIVE: To review what the literature says about reading abilities of children on the autism spectrum (autism spectrum disorders, ASD) as well as to assess the results of intervention proposals. The broad ASD diagnosis used in the last decades and the resulting changes in the prevalence of these disorders have led to a relevant increase in the number of children diagnosed with ASD in the school system. The purpose of this review is to identify the different profiles of reading abilities shown by children with ASD described in the recent literature and the results of reported intervention methods. METHODS: A review of the literature was conducted in the Web of Sciences and PubMed databases with the keywords 'autism' AND 'read*' and the filter 2010-2015. All articles published in the last 5 years focusing on description of and intervention for reading abilities in individuals with ASD were included. Review articles were excluded. RESULTS: The selected 58 articles were divided into those that described reading abilities in individuals with ASD (n = 27) and those that reported intervention procedures for reading development (n = 31). CONCLUSIONS: Direct comparisons and associations were prevented due to different inclusion criteria and lack of detailed information about intervention processes. We propose tentative conclusions that should be confirmed by further studies.

Social Communication and pragmatic skills of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder and Developmental Language Disorder.

PURPOSE: to assess the pragmatic and social communicative abilities of children with Typical Language Development (TLD), Autism Spectrum disorder (ASD) and Developmental Language Disorder (DLD). METHODS: Participants were 40 parents and 29 teachers of 40 children ages between 3 and 6 years. Ten children had DLD, ten had ASD and 20 had typical development. All participants answered to the questionnaire of the "Assessment of Pragmatic Language and Social Communication - APLSC - parent and professional reports - beta research version. Data were submitted to statistical analysis. RESULTS: The assessment tool was useful in identifying the difference in performance of children with different social communicative profiles. CONCLUSION: Children with ASD presented social and pragmatic impairments that were more significant than those presented by children with DLD. However, both children with ASD and with DLD presented more social pragmatic difficulties than children with TLD.

Brainstem auditory evoked potentials in children with autism spectrum disorder.

OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to analyze the neural encoding of verbal and nonverbal stimuli in individuals with autism spectrum disorder using brainstem auditory evoked potentials. METHODOLOGY: Thirty individuals between 7 and 12 years of age and of both genders participated in this study. Fifteen were diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, and 15 had typical development. All subjects had normal hearing and no other impairments. An electrophysiological hearing assessment was performed using brainstem auditory evoked potentials with click and speech stimuli. RESULTS: In the brainstem auditory evoked potentials with click stimuli, the mean wave I latency was longer for the right ear in both groups, and interpeak intervals III-V were greater for the individuals with autism spectrum disorder. For brainstem auditory evoked potentials with speech stimuli, wave V latency was shorter in individuals with autism spectrum disorder. CONCLUSION: These data suggest that individuals with autism spectrum disorder may have a dysfunction of the central auditory nervous system for nonverbal stimuli and faster neural encoding of the initial part of the verbal stimulus, suggesting hypersensitivity to complex sounds such as speech.

Quantitative evaluation of the orofacial morphology: anthropometric measurements in healthy and mouth-breathing children.

UNLABELLED: The anthropometric orofacial measurements of mouth-breathing children were compared to those of children with no history of speech-language disorders, according to age. METHODS: 100 children participated, both males and females, with ages ranging from 7 to 11 years and 11 months, leukoderm, in mixed dentition period, with a mouth-breathing diagnosis. The control group was comprised of 254 children, of both sexes, with ages ranging from 7 to 11 years and 11 months, leukoderm, in mixed dentition period, with no history of speech-language disorders. The control group did not demonstrate any mouth-breathing. The children were submitted to anthropometric assessment and the orofacial measurements obtained were upper lip, lower lip, philtrum, upper face, middle face, lower face, and sides of the face. The instrument used was the electronic digital sliding caliper Starrett Series 727. There was statistically significant difference between the majority of the orofacial measurements of mouth-breathing children and the measurements of children with no history of speech-language disorders. Some orofacial measurements were different in the studied populations. The possibility of comparing orofacial measurements of children with and without mouth-breathing behavior allows the clinician to determine normal and altered structures of the orofacial morphology. The main advantages of the anthropometry are its noninvasive nature, its technological simplicity, low cost and objective analysis. The anthropometric procedures also have clinical applications in myofunctional assessment and therapy.

Caregivers' perception of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder regarding to the communicative profile of their children after a communicative orientation program. / Percepção de cuidadores de crianças com Transtorno do Espectro do Autismo quanto ao perfil comunicativo de seus filhos após um programa de orientação fonoaudiológica.

PURPOSE: To analyze the perception of caregivers of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder regarding the functional profile of their children's communication in three moments, before and after the guidelines. METHODS: Caregivers of 62 children diagnosed with ASD (AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDER) participated in this study, divided into three groups of interventions. All interventions included a program with five pre-set monthly orientation sessions to provide information on the development of communication and encourage practical communication activities in daily life. In G1 (group 1), the caregivers received the group orientation program, and the children received individual speech therapy. In G2 (group 2), caregivers received the same program orientations but individually, and their children received different treatment. G3 (group 3), composed of caregivers of children waiting for speech-language pathology on the waiting list, received group guidance. All caregivers answered the Functional Communication Checklist (PFC-C) in three moments: baseline, five and eight months. RESULTS: In the PFC-C the parents reported an increase in the occurrence of gestural, vocal and verbal means in all groups, to express interpersonal communicative functions, except in G2. In non-interpersonal communicative functions, there was a decrease in the occurrence of the gestural communicative environment, an increase in the verbal climate, with no statistical difference between the groups. As for the vocal climate, there was no difference over time. CONCLUSION: Communication guidelines for caregivers of children with ASD (AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDER) (Autism Spectrum Disorder) contributed to the understanding of the communicative process in different situations, by detecting differences in their perception of the communication functionality of their children.

OBJETIVO: Analisar a percepção de cuidadores de crianças com Transtorno do Espectro do Autismo quanto ao perfil funcional da comunicação de seus filhos em três momentos, antes e após as orientações. MÉTODO: Cuidadores de 62 crianças com diagnóstico de TEA participaram deste estudo, divididos em três grupos de intervenções. Todas as intervenções incluíram um programa com cinco sessões de orientação mensais pré-estabelecidas para fornecer informações sobre o desenvolvimento da comunicação e incentivar atividades práticas de comunicação na vida diária. No G1, os cuidadores receberam o programa de orientação em grupo e as crianças receberam terapia fonoaudiológica individual. No G2, os cuidadores receberam as mesmas orientações do programa, mas individualmente, e seus filhos receberam terapia individual. O G3, composto por cuidadores de crianças que aguardavam atendimento fonoaudiológico em lista de espera, recebeu orientação em grupo. Todos os cuidadores responderam ao Perfil de Comunicação Funcional-Checklist (PFC-C) em três momentos: marco zero, cinco e oito meses. RESULTADOS: No PFC-C os pais relataram aumento na ocorrência dos meios gestual, vocal e verbal em todos os grupos, para expressar as funções comunicativas interpessoais, exceto no G2. Nas funções comunicativas não interpessoais, houve diminuição da ocorrência do meio comunicativo gestual, aumento do meio verbal, sem diferença estatística entre os grupos. Quanto ao meio vocal, não houve diferença ao longo do tempo. CONCLUSÃO: As orientações de comunicação para cuidadores de crianças com TEA contribuíram para a compreensão do processo comunicativo em diferentes situações, por meio da detecção de diferenças em sua percepção quanto à funcionalidade da comunicação de seus filhos.

[Relations between the Autistic Behavior Checklist (ABC) and the functional communicative profile]. / Relações entre a Autistic Behavior Checklist (ABC) e o perfil funcional da comunicação no espectro autístico.

BACKGROUND: language and communication disorders are proposed as one of the three fundamental criteria for the description or diagnosis of pervasive developmental disorders (PDD), along with social disabilities and a narrow focus of interest. This way, the determination of simple procedures that can be used by health and education professionals to identify the persons that need specialized services is essential. The Autistic Behavior Checklist (ABC) is being used in several studies because it allows simple application and may be based on filmed behavior samples, interviews with parents or therapists. Its' results, on the other side, had been tested for a few decades and been shown reliable. AIM: the general aim of this study is to verify the possibility that the assessment of the relation between communicative profile and the ABC score contributes to the diagnostic process of persons with disorders of the autistic spectrum. METHOD: subjects were 117 children and adolescents with ages between 2 and 16 years attending language therapy. RESULTS: were statistically analyzed and indicated that there are negative correlations between the ABC scores and communicative interaction and complexity. The small amount of correlations between language sub-scale and the other data suggest that there is a dissociation of the description provided by the ABC and the criteria proposed by the DSM-IV and the ICD-10 to the diagnosis of autism. CONCLUSION: the search for objective criteria to determine subgroups of the autistic spectrum remains a challenge.

Portuguese adaptation of Shulman's test of pragmatic skills. / Adaptação para o português do teste de habilidades pragmáticas de Shulman.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to apply the Test of Pragmatic Skills in Brazilian children with normal development. METHODS: Participants of this study were 60 children 3:00 to 8:11 years old, equally divided between genders. The examiners had prior contact with the group of children and applied the TOPS - a traditional test that proposes four sets of simple activities, with the common material, applicable in a short period of time - according to the procedure proposed by the author. RESULTS: The results showed a large variability in performance, illustrating that the linguistic and pragmatic skills develop according to the age. It was also observed that the subjects performed all the categories of communicative intentions required by Shulman, indicating that it is not the presence or absence of a specific intent that influences the score in this test, but the quality of the answers provided, which evolves with age. CONCLUSION: Thus, we can conclude that the TOPS proved to be an important instrument that allows answers in informal conversation contexts, verifying that the test is effective in assessing the pragmatic skills of typically developing children and can be an important tool to be used in the assessment of communicative intentions in Brazilian children.

OBJETIVO: A proposta do presente estudo foi aplicar o Test of Pragmatic Skills em crianças brasileiras com desenvolvimento típico. MÉTODO: Foram participantes desta pesquisa 60 crianças de 3:00 a 8:11 anos, divididas igualmente entre os gêneros. As examinadoras tiveram contato prévio com o grupo de crianças e aplicaram o TOPS ­ um teste tradicional composto por quatro conjuntos de atividades simples, com material comum, aplicáveis em um curto período de tempo ­ segundo o proposto pelo autor. RESULTADOS: Nos resultados, observamos bastante variabilidade no desempenho, exemplificando que as habilidades linguísticas e pragmáticas vão se desenvolvendo de acordo com a idade. Foi possível observar, ainda, que os participantes apresentaram as categorias de intenções comunicativas pretendidas por Shulman, indicando que não é a presença ou ausência de alguma intenção específica que influencia a pontuação nesse teste, mas a qualidade das respostas fornecidas, que evolui com a idade. CONCLUSÃO: Desta forma, podemos concluir que o TOPS mostrou-se importante por permitir respostas em contextos informais de conversação, verificando-se que o teste é eficaz para avaliar as habilidades pragmáticas de crianças de desenvolvimento típico e pode ser um instrumento relevante a ser empregado na avaliação das intenções comunicativas de crianças brasileiras.

[Characteristics of the stomatognathic system of mouth breathing children: anthroposcopic approach]. / Características do sistema estomatognático de crianças respiradoras orais: enfoque antroposcópico.

BACKGROUND: the use of anthroposcopy in the assessment of posture and morphology of the stomatognathic system of mouth breathing children. AIM: to describe the postural and morphologic characteristics of the stomatognathic system of mouth breathing children, according to age. METHOD: participants were 100 children, of both genders, with ages ranging from 7 to 11 years and 11 months, leukoderms, in mixed dentition and with the diagnosis of mouth breathing. The investigated postural and morphologic characteristics of the stomatognathic system were labial and lingual resting position, possibility of labial occlusion, hyperfunction of the mentalis muscle during labial occlusion, bite and morphology of the lower lip, cheeks and hard palate, using the anthroposcopy methodology. RESULTS: the results referring to the characterization of the studied population, according to the most frequent otorhinolaryngologic diagnosis, was of enlarged pharyngeal and palatine tonsils. A statistically significant difference was found between the percentages of each otorhinolaryngologic diagnosis, according to age. The results of the characteristics of the stomatognathic system indicated that the most common aspects in the studied sample were: half-open lips when in the resting position, tongue lowered on the mouth's floor in the resting position, possibility of labial occlusion, hyperfunction of the mentalis muscle during labial occlusion, alterations of bite, labioverted, symmetry of the cheeks and alteration of the hard palate. All of the studied characteristics presented the same frequency with the increase in age, with no statistically significant difference. CONCLUSION: mouth breathing children presented pathologic adaptations in the postural and morphological characteristics of the stomatognathic system. This suggests the importance of early diagnosis in order to avoid orofacial alterations.

[Filmed sample size and pragmatic analysis in Down syndrome]. / Amostra de filmagem e análise da pragmática na síndrome de Down.

BACKGROUND: Assessing language development is a complex task that requires practical and theoretical knowledge about the investigated issues. It is also important to take into account data gathering and analysis methodology, in order to achieve consistent and reliable results that mirror the subject's reality. AIM: considering the purpose of obtaining the maximum data in minimum time, without jeopardizing their quality and effectiveness, our aim is to identify the better sample's size and moment of videotaped interaction to study the pragmatic abilities of children with Down syndrome. METHOD: The communicative profile of 25 children with Down syndrome aged between 2 and 7 years were determined as proposed by Fernandes (2004). Data obtained through samples of 15 and 30 minutes were analyzed and compared. The situation analyzed provided interaction between the child and a speech-and language-therapist in play situations. To determine the statistical significance of data the tests Friedman, Wilcoxon and confidence interval were applied with a significance level of 0.05 (5%). CONCLUSION: There were no significant differences related to the obtained samples with different videotaped duration for pragmatic analysis of the communication of children with Down syndrome.

Remote follow-up to speech-language intervention for children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD): parents' feedback regarding structured activities.

PURPOSE: This paper aims to present the first descriptions of experiences of parents and caretakers of children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) enrolled as mediators in a structured program of speech-language intervention with remote follow-up. METHODS: Research with focus on speech-language intervention for children with ASD was carried out with remote follow-up. Forty parents were instructed to perform daily activities focused on communication and interaction with their children, at home, for a period of six weeks. Parents and caretakers were questioned about the experience and by means of a structured questionnaire. RESULTS: Only 40% of the parents/caretakers conducted the activities proposed every day. Difficulties were reported by 60% of the parents/caretakers. Behavioral problems were also reported as reasons for the difficulties to conduct the activities proposed. CONCLUSION: the importance of parents who provide detailed information about the child's development, discuss doubts and exchange experiences for the development of intervention programs that include families.

Cognitive flexibility training intervention among children with autism: a longitudinal study.

Autism is defined by persistent deficits in social communication and social interaction in multiple contexts as well as restricted and repetitive patterns of behavior. There are also reported difficulties in the dynamic activation and modification of cognitive processes in response to changes in tasks' demands. Such difficulties are believed to be due to poor flexible cognition. This research aimed to assess and intervene in cognitive flexibility in subjects with autism.Ten subjects diagnosed with autism by psychiatrists, aged 5 years to 13 years and 5 months, were assessed in non-verbal intelligence through Raven's Progressive Matrices in pretest. They were also assessed in cognitive flexibility through Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST) and in patterns of social interactions, behaviors, and communication through Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised (ADI-R). An intervention program of 14 to 21 sessions was established to enhance cognitive flexibility. In posttest, they were assessed in WCST and ADI-R.All measures of cognitive flexibility improved in posttest except for failure to maintain set. Among the measures improved in posttest, perseverative errors and responses improved in posttest with statistical significance as well as categories completed. Total scores on ADI-R were lower in posttest as well as scores on communication abilities.The qualitative improvement showed by the individuals of this research concerning cognitive flexibility and also patterns of restricted behavior, social interaction, and communication abilities suggests that individuals with autism can benefit from the development of strategies for the enhancement of cognitive flexibility. Nevertheless, more research is suggested with a larger sample among subjects on the autism spectrum.

[Relation between social cognitive aspects and the functional communicative profile in a group of adolescents of the autistic spectrum]. / Relação entre os aspectos sócio cognitivos e perfil funcional da comunicação em um grupo de adolescentes do espectro autístico.

BACKGROUND: Issues concerning language development and their relation with social cognitive aspects give direction to the clinical practice when assisting the population with the diagnosis within the autistic spectrum. The deficits or differences in this development can result in different ways of analyzing and counseling this population. Adolescence becomes a question mark in this analysis since, in most cases, researches address only early childhood. The speech pathologist must assess the relationship between language abilities and communicative competence. Language abilities refer to the possibilities to understand and formulate spoken or written symbolic systems, whereas the communicative competence refers to the ability to use language as an effective tool to interact with other people in several social contexts. PURPOSE: To verify the development of the functional communicative profile and of the social cognitive aspects of adolescents, who attend a specialized institution and who have a psychiatric diagnosis within the autistic spectrum in three different situations of communication during a 12 months period and to study the relation between these variables in the same situations, during the same period of time. METHOD: Subjects of this study were five adolescents with ages between 12 and 17 years. Two recording sets, with a 12 month interval, were obtained for each subject. Each recording set was composed by three 30 minutes videotaped situations of different interactive contexts: Situation I--individual language therapy; Situation II--child in a group with coordinator; Situation III--child in a group without coordinator. RESULTS: Differences exist between the subjects in the three studied situations regarding the social cognitive performance and the functional communicative profile. CONCLUSION: There is a relationship between the development of the social cognitive aspects and the functional communicative profile in the three situations of communication for the studied period.

[Analyses of the communicative functions expressed by language therapists and patients of the autistic spectrum]. / Análise das funções comunicativas expressas por terapeutas e pacientes do espectro autístico.

BACKGROUND: communicative functions used by language therapists and patients. AIM: to analyze the communicative functions used by language therapists and patients of the autistic spectrum. METHOD: the communicative functions expressed by six therapists in interaction with six patients each were analyzed, constituting 36 profiles of communicative functions expressed by the dyad therapist-patient. All therapists were part of a Training Program in Childhood Psychiatric Disorders and the patients were diagnosed within the autistic spectrum. Data were gathered using the transcriptions of a videotaped therapy session and these were analyzed according to the criteria suggested by Fernandes (2000). The communicative functions were divided in two different ways: interpersonal and non-interpersonal, and instrumental, regulatory, interactive, personal, heuristic and imaginative. RESULTS: the comparison between the functions used by the language therapists and the patients indicated a statistically significant difference in use of the following functions: request of social routine, request of information, request of action, comment, recognition of other, exclamation, non-focused, exploratory, exhibition, play and reactive. There was also a statistically significant difference between the use of interpersonal, non-interpersonal, regulatory, interactive, personal and heuristic communicative functions. CONCLUSION: the functional communicative profile of language therapists is different from the one presented by their patients when comparing each communicative function and when the communicative functions are grouped (interpersonal and non-interpersonal, and instrumental, regulatory, interactive, personal, heuristic and imaginative). Therapists use communicative functions to fill in the communicative space and to make requests. This finding agrees with the findings of previous studies.

Protocolo de avaliação de habilidades pragmáticas de crianças com transtornos do espectro do autismo / Assessment of pragmatic abilities of children with autism spectrum disorders

RESUMO Objetivo Propor um protocolo de avaliação das habilidades pragmáticas da comunicação de crianças incluídas no espectro do autismo, aplicá-lo e comparar seus resultados com os do Perfil Funcional da Comunicação. Métodos Participaram deste estudo 62 crianças entre 2 e 12 anos de idade, com diagnóstico incluído no espectro do autismo e sem perdas sensoriais ou síndromes genéticas diagnosticadas. A partir de amostras em vídeo, fonoaudiólogos responderam ao protocolo proposto e os resultados foram analisados em relação a protocolos já usados no serviço em que o estudo foi realizado. Resultados Apenas os dados referentes à interatividade da comunicação e ao uso do meio comunicativo verbal apresentaram correlações significativas com o desempenho nos aspectos pragmáticos da linguagem, conforme verificado pelo protocolo proposto. O protocolo foi capaz de constatar que maiores possibilidades de interação com a criança possibilitam mais dados a respeito de seu desempenho pragmático. A análise do uso do protocolo para acompanhar os resultados de seis meses de intervenção também possibilitou a identificação de correlações relevantes. Apenas uma das 29 questões não apresentou associação com nenhuma das variáveis estudadas. Conclusão Os resultados obtidos até o momento não são suficientes para determinar que o uso isolado do Protocolo de Avaliação de Habilidades Pragmáticas de Crianças com Transtorno do Espectro do Autismo fornece todos os elementos necessários para a avaliação ou o acompanhamento da intervenção fonoaudiológica.

ABSTRACT Purpose To propose a protocol to the assessment of pragmatic abilities of children with autism spectrum disorders, test it and compare the results with those of the Functional Communicative Profile. Methods Participants were 62 children, ages 2 to 12 years without prior diagnosis of any sensorial loss or genetic syndrome. Based on video samples, speech-language pathologists answered to the proposed protocol. The results were analyzed according to their association with other protocols used in the service where the study was carried-out. Results Only data about communication interactivity and use of verbal communicative mean presented significant correlations with the pragmatic aspects of language performance verified by the proposed protocol. The protocol allowed the supposition that larger experience with the child may provide more information about the child's pragmatic performance. The analysis of the use of the protocol to verify the outcomes of six-month language intervention processes also lead to relevant correlations. Just one of the 29 questions did not result in associations with any of the studied variables. Conclusion So far, the results are not enough to consider that the isolated use of this tool will provide the necessary information to language assessment of intervention follow-up.

The provision of speech-language therapy in services destined to individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). / A oferta da terapia fonoaudiológica em locais de assistência a indivíduos com Transtornos do Espectro do Autista (TEA).

The increased prevalence of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) worldwide has been a major public health concern; therefore, discussion about the services and therapies required has become important. This study aimed to characterize the provision of speech-language therapy services in the metropolitan area of Sao Paulo. To this end, a questionnaire with 23 questions was developed based on the Balanced Scorecard methodology. This questionnaire was applied to 854 individuals assisted in 25 ASD services. The results show that only 64% of the ASD services offer speech-language therapy and that the number of individuals assisted is below the expected. Therefore, there is a necessity for better management in the speech-language therapy services offered to the ASD population.

Communicative skills of children with autistic spectrum disorder: clinical and family perception / Habilidades comunicativas em crianças com transtorno do espectro autista: percepção clínica e familiar

ABSTRACT Objective: to describe the communication skills of children with autistic spectrum disorder (ASD), considering the clinical and family perspective. Methods: from the point of view of parents and therapists, the language of ten children with ASD was analyzed. All children underwent speech therapy at the outpatient clinic of a Speech Therapy School. Two protocols were used for data collection. Autism Treatment Evaluation Checklist (ATEC), which was applied to the children's parents, and Protocol for Assessment of Pragmatic Skills of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders - called Pragmatic Protocol (PP), which was answered by therapists. The data were examined through a descriptive statistical analysis, considering absolute and relative frequency, and inferential statistics, through the Chi-square test, with a 5% of significance for all analyses. Results: an expressive presence of communicative deficits, in the answers presented by the therapists, was seen. In the protocol answered by the parents, it was also possible to observe the same trend, since the children failed to score in several items of Subscale I. Conclusion: parents and therapists evidenced changes in the communicative skills of the children surveyed, and emphasized that therapists, who have technical linguistic knowledge, like parents, can also be good informants about their children's communicative development process.

RESUMO Objetivo: descrever as habilidades de comunicação de crianças com TEA considerando a perspectiva clínica e familiar. Métodos: foi analisada, a partir do ponto de vista dos pais e terapeutas, a linguagem de 10 crianças com TEA. Todas as crianças estavam em acompanhamento fonoaudiológico no ambulatório de uma Clínica Escola de Fonoaudiologia. Foram utilizados dois protocolos para coleta dos dados. O Autism Treatment Evaluation Checklist- ATEC, o qual foi aplicado com os pais das crianças, e o Protocolo de Avaliação de Habilidades Pragmáticas de Crianças com Transtornos do Espectro do Autismo - PAHPEA, o qual foi respondido pelos terapeutas. Após aplicação dos protocolos, os dados foram examinados por meio de uma análise estatística descritiva, utilizando-se da frequência absoluta e relativa, e inferencial por meio do teste de associação Qui-quadrado, com significância de 5% para todas as análises. Resultados: de acordo com as respostas apresentadas pelos terapeutas, uma expressiva presença de déficits comunicativos foi observada. No protocolo respondido pelos pais também foi possível observar a mesma tendência, uma vez que as crianças deixaram de pontuar em vários itens da Subescala I. Conclusão: os pais e terapeutas evidenciaram alterações nas habilidades comunicativas das crianças pesquisadas, ressaltando que, assim como os terapeutas, os quais possuem conhecimento técnico linguístico, os pais também podem ser bons informantes sobre o processo de desenvolvimento comunicativo de seus filhos.

[Language therapy results with adolescents of the autistic spectrum]. / Resultados de terapia fonoaudiológica com adolescentes com diagnóstico inserido no espectro autístico.

BACKGROUND: Results of language therapy with adolescents and children with autistic spectrum disorders. AIM: to identify changes, after a six-month period of speech-language therapy, in a group of adolescents and to compare them with a group of children. METHOD: Data referring to the communicative profile and social-cognitive performance of 12 adolescents and 12 children were analyzed. RESULTS: Just one of the 10 observed areas presented meaningful progress for the group of adolescents and 5 areas presented progress for group of children. CONCLUSION: The results reinforce the importance of language therapy for autistic children, as more progress can be obtained at this age.