Author(s): Pereira, C?tia Tatiana de Jesus ; Farate, Carlos (Orientador)
Date: 2015
Origin: Repositório Aberto do Instituto Superior Miguel Torga
Subject(s): Perturba??o do espectro autista - Autism Spectrum Disorder; PECS - PECS; ATEC - ATEC; Compet?ncias de comunica??o - Communicative competences
Introdu??o: Sabe-se, atualmente, que a linguagem ? um ato importante que nos permite sentir integrados e compreendidos. Assim, este projeto de investiga??o tem como prop?sito avaliar o impacto da aplica??o do PECS (Picture Exchange Communication System) numa crian?a autista a fim de promover as suas compet?ncias comunicativas. Metodologia: Este projeto realiza-se atrav?s de uma avalia??o terap?utica? Estudo de Caso ? individual?, que incide sobre a interven??o terap?utica (PECS) desenvolvida numa crian?a com perturba??o de espectro autista em setting naturalista (casa da fam?lia). Tem como instrumentos de avalia??o a observa??o participante e a escala ATEC (Autism Treatment Evaluation Checklist) aplicada no in?cio, no meio e no final da implementa??o do projeto de investiga??o. Resultados: A implementa??o do PECS ? crian?a em processo de tratamento parece ter tido efeitos ben?ficos, j? que a aplica??o da ATEC evidenciou melhorias em todas as subescalas. ? na subescala da sociabilidade que se identifica um maior n?mero de altera??es, registandose uma diminui??o de quatro pontos na sua totalidade. J? as subescalas da consci?ncia cognitiva/sensorial e da sa?de/f?sico e comportamento apresentaram uma diminui??o de dois pontos at? ? ?ltima aplica??o da ATEC. Por fim a subescala do discurso/comunica??o e linguagem foi a que menos altera??o evidenciou, diminuindo apenas um ponto. A pontua??o geral final ? compat?vel com um diagn?stico de melhoria na gravidade de autismo, passando de 94 pontos na baseline para 85 pontos no final. Conclus?o/Discuss?o: Ao contr?rio do que ? indicado na literatura e daquilo que seria de esperar, com a aplica??o do PECS, n?o se obtiveram melhorias estat?sticas significativas nas compet?ncias de comunica??o da crian?a em tratamento. Contudo, a sua aplica??o demonstrou-se ben?fica em outras ?reas, melhorando consideravelmente os comportamentos e a sociabilidade. / Introduction: Today it is acknowledged that language plays an important part in social integration and understanding. Therefore, the purpose of this research project is to assess the impact of PECS (Picture Exchange Communication System) on the promotion of communicative competences in an autistic child. Methodology: A therapeutic assessment was carried out, by developing an ?individual Case Study? focusing on the therapeutical intervention (PECS) on a child who suffers from an autism spectrum disorder in a natural setting (i.e., family home).The assessment instruments used were participant observation and the ATEC scale (Autism Treatment Evaluation Checklist), which was applied during the initial, intermediate and final stages of the implementation of this research project. Results: The implementation of PECS during the child?s treatment appears to have been beneficial, since the application of ATEC showed improvement on all subscales. The greatest number of alterations was registered on the sociability subscale, with a fourpoint decrease on the total subscale. On the other hand, the sensory/cognitive awareness and health/ physical/behaviour subscales showed a two-point decrease until the final application of ATEC. Finally, the speech/language/communication subscale evidenced a one-point decrease and therefore showed the fewest alterations. The final general score is compatible with an improvement in the degree of autism: from 94 points at the baseline to a 85-point final score. Conclusion/Discussion: Contrary to the information in the literature and expectations regarding the application of PECS, there were no significant statistical improvements in the child?s communicative competences during treatment. However, there were improvements in other areas, such as behaviour and sociability.
