Interference of the communicative profile of children with autism spectrum disorders upon their mother's quality of life. / Interferência do meio comunicativo da criança com transtorno do espectro do autismo na qualidade de vida de suas mães.

PURPOSE: According to the World Health Organization, quality of life is defined as the perception an individual has on his/her position within the cultural context and the system of values in which he/she is contained. This perception is intrinsically related to the objectives, expectations, patterns, and concerns of such an individual. We know that when a member of a family is assailed by an ailment, the quality of life of all of those who surround him/her suffer a strong impact. One of the great concerns of the families regarding the development of a child with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is the lack or impairment of the child's speech. Thus, the objective of this study was to analyze the interference of the communicative means of children with ASD upon the quality of life of their mothers. METHODS: This was a transversal study. The sample was obtained from 41 mothers of children diagnosed with ASD by a multi-disciplinary team: the mothers were divided into two groups: 20 mothers of non-verbal children-GASD-NV; and 21 mothers of verbal children-GASD. We applied the WHOQOL-Bref questionnaire to score and analyze the quality of life of these mothers. RESULTS: There was no significant difference in the maternal perception related to the domains that reflected the quality of life which we compared between these two groups of mothers. In both groups, we observed high indexes of dissatisfaction. CONCLUSION: We verified that the quality of life of the mothers of children with ASD was affected regardless of the communicative means used by the child.

OBJETIVO: A Organização Mundial de Saúde define a qualidade de vida como a percepção que o indivíduo tem de sua posição na vida dentro do contexto cultural e do sistema de valores nos quais ele está inserido. Ela está intrinsicamente relacionada aos objetivos, expectativas, padrões e preocupações deste indivíduo. Sabe-se que, quando um membro da família é acometido por alguma doença, a qualidade de vida de todos ao seu redor sofre forte impacto. Uma das grandes preocupações das famílias em relação ao desenvolvimento da criança com Transtorno do Espectro do Autismo (TEA) é a ausência da fala. Sendo assim, o objetivo deste estudo foi analisar a interferência do meio comunicativo da criança com TEA na qualidade de vida de suas mães. MÉTODO: Trata-se de um estudo transversal. A amostra foi constituída por 41 mães de crianças diagnosticadas, por equipe multidisciplinar, com TEA que foram divididas em dois grupos: 20 mães de crianças não verbais - GTEA-NV e 21 mães de crianças verbais - GTEA. Para a análise da qualidade de vida das mães, aplicou-se o questionário WHOQOL-Bref. RESULTADOS: Não houve diferença significante na percepção materna acerca dos domínios que refletem a qualidade de vida na comparação entre os grupos de mães. Em ambos os grupos, observamos índices elevados de insatisfação. CONCLUSÃO: Verificamos que a qualidade de vida das mães das crianças com TEA esteve afetada independentemente do meio comunicativo utilizado pela criança.

Selection of words for implementation of the Picture Exchange Communication System - PECS in non-verbal autistic children. / Seleção de vocábulos para implementação do Picture Exchange Communication System ­ PECS em autistas não verbais.

PURPOSE: It is known that some autistic individuals are considered non-verbal, since they are unable to use verbal language and barely use gestures to compensate for the absence of speech. Therefore, these individuals' ability to communicate may benefit from the use of the Picture Exchange Communication System - PECS. The objective of this study was to verify the most frequently used words in the implementation of PECS in autistic children, and on a complementary basis, to analyze the correlation between the frequency of these words and the rate of maladaptive behaviors. METHODS: This is a cross-sectional study. The sample was composed of 31 autistic children, twenty-five boys and six girls, aged between 5 and 10 years old. To identify the most frequently used words in the initial period of implementation of PECS, the Vocabulary Selection Worksheet was used. And to measure the rate of maladaptive behaviors, we applied the Autism Behavior Checklist (ABC). RESULTS: There was a significant prevalence of items in the category "food", followed by "activities" and "beverages". There was no correlation between the total amount of items identified by the families and the rate of maladaptive behaviors. CONCLUSION: The categories of words most mentioned by the families could be identified, and it was confirmed that the level of maladaptive behaviors did not interfere directly in the preparation of the vocabulary selection worksheet for the children studied.

Seleção de vocábulos para implementação do Picture Exchange Communication System – PECS em autistas não verbais / Selection of words for implementation of the Picture Exchange Communication System – PECS in non-verbal autistic children

RESUMO Objetivo Sabe-se que alguns autistas são considerados não verbais, uma vez que não são hábeis para utilizar o código linguístico. E tampouco usam gestos para compensar a ausência de fala. Sendo assim, a habilidade comunicativa desses indivíduos pode ser beneficiada pelo uso do sistema de comunicação alternativa Picture Exchange Communication System – PECS. O objetivo deste estudo foi verificar os vocábulos mais frequentemente utilizados na implementação do PECS em crianças autistas. E, de forma complementar, analisar a correlação entre a frequência destes vocábulos e o índice de comportamentos não adaptativos. Método Trata-se de um estudo transversal. A amostra foi constituída por 31 crianças autistas, sendo vinte e cinco meninos e seis meninas, na faixa etária de 5 a 10 anos. Para identificação dos vocábulos mais frequentemente utilizados no período inicial de implementação do PECS, utilizamos a Planilha de Seleção de Vocabulário. E, para obtermos o índice de comportamentos não adaptativos, aplicamos o Autism Behavior Checklist (ABC). Resultados Houve predomínio significativo de itens na categoria alimentos, seguido de atividade e bebidas. Não houve correlação entre o total de itens identificados pelas famílias com o índice de comportamentos não adaptativos. Conclusão Foi possível identificar as categorias de vocábulos mais mencionados pelas famílias e verificar que o índice de comportamentos não adaptativos não interferiu diretamente na elaboração da planilha de seleção de vocábulos das crianças estudadas.

ABSTRACT Purpose It is known that some autistic individuals are considered non-verbal, since they are unable to use verbal language and barely use gestures to compensate for the absence of speech. Therefore, these individuals’ ability to communicate may benefit from the use of the Picture Exchange Communication System – PECS. The objective of this study was to verify the most frequently used words in the implementation of PECS in autistic children, and on a complementary basis, to analyze the correlation between the frequency of these words and the rate of maladaptive behaviors. Methods This is a cross-sectional study. The sample was composed of 31 autistic children, twenty-five boys and six girls, aged between 5 and 10 years old. To identify the most frequently used words in the initial period of implementation of PECS, the Vocabulary Selection Worksheet was used. And to measure the rate of maladaptive behaviors, we applied the Autism Behavior Checklist (ABC). Results There was a significant prevalence of items in the category “food”, followed by “activities” and “beverages”. There was no correlation between the total amount of items identified by the families and the rate of maladaptive behaviors. Conclusion The categories of words most mentioned by the families could be identified, and it was confirmed that the level of maladaptive behaviors did not interfere directly in the preparation of the vocabulary selection worksheet for the children studied.

Comprehension of ambiguity for children with Specific Language Impairment and Autism Spectrum Disorder. / Compreensão de ambiguidade em crianças com Transtorno Específico de Linguagem e Fala e Transtorno do Espectro Autista.

PURPOSE: To verify and compare the performance of children and adolescents with Specific Language Impairment (SLI) and Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) using a formal, standardized test that assesses language competence, more specifically comprehension of ambiguity. METHODS: The sample comprised 19 individuals aged 6 to 14 years, of both genders, divided into two groups: ASD Group (9) and SLI Group (10). Participants were assessed using the Test of Language Competence - TLC; Ambiguous Sentences subtest (Wiig, Secord, 1989). Analysis included the comparison of the total scores in both groups. RESULTS: We found significant difference between the groups, with better performance of the SLI Group compared with that of the ASD Group. CONCLUSION: It was possible to analyze and compare the performance of both groups in a metalinguistic activity. We observed better performance of the SLI group compared with that of the ASD Group in the interpretation of ambiguous information.

Compreensão de ambiguidade em crianças com transtorno específico de linguagem e fala e transtorno do espectro autista / Comprehension of ambiguity for children with specific language impairment and autism spectrum disorder

RESUMO Objetivo Verificar e comparar o desempenho de crianças e adolescentes com Transtorno Específico de Linguagem e Fala (TEL) e Transtorno do Espectro Autista (TEA) em teste formal e padronizado que avalia a competência de linguagem, especificamente em prova de ambiguidade. Método A amostra foi constituída por 19 indivíduos, de 6 a 14 anos, de ambos os gêneros, divididos em dois grupos: Grupo TEA (9) e Grupo TEL (10). Utilizamos a prova de Sentenças Ambíguas do Teste de Competência de Linguagem – TLC (Wiig, Secord, 1989). Para a análise, foram comparadas as pontuações totais dos grupos. Resultados Houve diferença significativa com melhor desempenho do grupo TEL em comparação ao grupo TEA. Conclusão Foi possível analisar e comparar a performance dos grupos em atividade metalinguística e verificar melhor desempenho do grupo Transtorno Específico de Linguagem e Fala em relação ao Transtorno do Espectro Autista, na interpretação de informações ambíguas.

ABSTRACT Purpose To verify and compare the performance of children and adolescents with Specific Language Impairment (SLI) and Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) using a formal, standardized test that assesses language competence, more specifically comprehension of ambiguity. Methods The sample comprised 19 individuals aged 6 to 14 years, of both genders, divided into two groups: ASD Group (9) and SLI Group (10). Participants were assessed using the Test of Language Competence – TLC; Ambiguous Sentences subtest (Wiig, Secord, 1989). Analysis included the comparison of the total scores in both groups. Results We found significant difference between the groups, with better performance of the SLI Group compared with that of the ASD Group. Conclusion It was possible to analyze and compare the performance of both groups in a metalinguistic activity. We observed better performance of the SLI group compared with that of the ASD Group in the interpretation of ambiguous information.