Analysis of speech fluency aspects in individuals with mild-degree Autistic Spectrum Disorder

• Grant number: 21/09949-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Effective date (Start): January 01, 2022
• Effective date (End): December 31, 2022
• Field of knowledge: Health Sciences - Speech Therapy
• Principal Investigator: Simone Aparecida Lopes-Herrera
• Grantee: Pâmella de Oliveira Ladeia
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Odontologia de Bauru (FOB). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Bauru , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is characterized as a developmental disorder that can cause changes in the individual's biopsychosocial process. Researches report that communication deficits in children with ASD are mostly present before the first two years of life. The communication of children on the autistic spectrum has several peculiarities and does not follow the same developmental path observed in normal children. Numerous investigations have been carried out on the language aspect of children with ASD, however, the focus on fluency in cases of children with Autistic Spectrum Disorder is not comprehensive. Speech fluency takes into account the disfluencies typology aspects (common and stuttering speech flow interruptions), speech rate (words and syllables per minute), and the frequency of speech flow interruptions. People with ASD have a tendency towards executive impairments involving the components of inhibition, planning, cognitive flexibility, verbal fluency, and visual and spatial working memory. This research aims to evaluate aspects of speech fluency in individuals with mild Autism Spectrum Disorder. Twenty individuals with a medical diagnosis of mild Autism Spectrum Disorder will be evaluated, according to the criteria of the DSM-5 (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders) and the ICD-10 (International Classification of Diseases), with an age range from 10 to 13 years old, upon filling out the Informed Consent Form (TCLE) of the parents and/or guardians and the free and informed consent form (TALE). As a data collection instrument, the ABFW fluency test will be used: A child language test in the areas of phonology, vocabulary, fluency, and pragmatics. Exploratory analyzes of the collected data will be carried out, in a qualitative way, with the application of statistical tests.(AU)