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Assessing communication in the autistic spectrum: interferences on language performance

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Author(s):
Camila Ramos Moreira
Total Authors: 1
Document type: Master's Dissertation
Press: São Paulo.
Institution: Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Faculdade de Medicina (FM/SBD)
Defense date:
Examining board members:
Fernanda Dreux Miranda Fernandes; Debora Maria Befi Lopes; Ana Luiza Pereira Gomes Pinto Navas
Advisor: Fernanda Dreux Miranda Fernandes
Abstract

The determination of the most efficient and reliable way to assess language and communication of autistic individuals in language therapy is still a challenge to the researchers of the field. The present study aims to contribute to the identification of the best techniques to the communication assessment in the autistic spectrum by the use of two different communicative settings. Aiming to verify the interference of the communicative context and of the time of interaction on the communicative performance, the situations varied according to the familiarity with the adult and with the procedure during 15 minutes communication samples. The first study compared variables of the Functional Communicative Profile (FCP) of the subjects during a routine communicative situation with the language therapist, called Familiar Situation (FS), and during interaction with a non-familiar speech pathologist (the researcher), using pre-determined material, this was called the Non-Familiar Situation (NS). The results show that the familiarity of the situation produces small interferences on the communication of autistic spectrum subjects. The second study analyzed the communicative functionality of the autistic subjects during the interaction time in both situations (FS and NF). The interaction was analyzed in three consecutive five-minute periods: first period (P1), intermediate period (P2) and final period (P3) aiming to compare the subjects communicative performance along each situation and among situations. The results show that the 17 interaction time produces some differences on the performance of autistic subjects, pointing out to an increase on the similarity among situations along the interaction time. It can be concluded that the Familiar Situation produced the best performance of autistic spectrum subjects in the communication assessment and that the first five minutes of the interaction should be more carefully analyzed because this is the period in which the larger differences occurred. (AU)