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AIMS: Identifying effective methods for stimulating language and communication of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is fundamental to the effective use of available resources to support these children. This pilot study was designed to explore the potential benefits of a program of stimulation of executive functions (SEF) on the functional aspects of language and communication through the assessment of the functional communicative profile and social-cognitive performance. METHODS: Twenty children, aged 5-12 years, with a diagnosis of ASD participated in the study. Two stimulation programs were offered over a 10- to 12-week period as part of the regular services offered to these children through a University's speech and language therapy outpatient clinic in São Paulo, Brazil. Children either received SEF intervention in their home implemented by their parent/s, with close monitoring by the speech-language pathologist (SLP) (group 1), or they received SEF by the SLP during regular speech-language therapy individual sessions (group 2). RESULTS: The findings suggested that there were differences between the children's pre- and posttest performance. Significantly different performances were observed in the areas of occupation of communication space, proportion of communicative interactivity, and social-cognitive performance. CONCLUSION: The inclusion of activities to stimulate executive function abilities in language intervention for children with ASD warrants further investigation.

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INTRODUCTION: The child's inclusion in his/her social-cultural context is very important to his/her adaptation and well-being. The family has a major role as a facilitator of this process. Therefore the difficulties of these families in communicating with children with communication disorders are an important issue to be assessed in order to support orientations to families. PURPOSE: The present study aimed to identify and compare communication difficulties perceived by parents of children with Down Syndrome (DS), Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) and Specific Language Impairment (SLI). METHODS: Information was gathered with the use of a questionnaire with 24 questions regarding the perception of parents about their child communication disorders and the difficulties they identify. The questions were divided into four domains: 1 - Parents' personal difficulties; 2 - Parents' impression about themselves regarding their child; 3 - Parents' impressions about other persons' reactions to their child and 4 - Parents' impression about their child. Sixty parents were the subjects of this study: 20 had children with DS, 20 with SLI and 20 with ASD. All children had ages between 6 and 12 years. RESULTS: It was possible to observe that there was significant difference between the parents of ASD children with those of DS and SLI on the second, third and fourth domains. CONCLUSION: The questionnaire is effective to the identification of the communication disorders of ASD children based on their parents' reports but not to other developmental disorders.

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INTRODUCTION: The child's inclusion in his/her social-cultural context is very important to his/her adaptation and well-being. The family has a major role as a facilitator of this process. Therefore the difficulties of these families in communicating with children with communication disorders are an important issue to be assessed in order to support orientations to families. PURPOSE: The present study aimed to identify and compare communication difficulties perceived by parents of children with Down Syndrome (DS), Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) and Specific Language Impairment (SLI). METHODS: Information was gathered with the use of a questionnaire with 24 questions regarding the perception of parents about their child communication disorders and the difficulties they identify. The questions were divided into four domains: 1 - Parents' personal difficulties; 2 - Parents' impression about themselves regarding their child; 3 - Parents' impressions about other persons' reactions to their child and 4 - Parents' impression about their child. Sixty parents were the subjects of this study: 20 had children with DS, 20 with SLI and 20 with ASD. All children had ages between 6 and 12 years. RESULTS: It was possible to observe that there was significant difference between the parents of ASD children with those of DS and SLI on the second, third and fourth domains. CONCLUSION: The questionnaire is effective to the identification of the communication disorders of ASD children based on their parents' reports but not to other developmental disorders. .

INTRODUÇÃO: A inserção da criança no contexto sociocultural é de grande importância para a sua adaptação e bem-estar, e a família desempenha um papel primordial como mediadora desse processo, tornando as dificuldades familiares com a comunicação da criança com distúrbios de linguagem um importante aspecto a ser estudado para basear as orientações familiares frequentemente oferecidas a essa população. OBJETIVO: O presente estudo visou identificar e comparar as dificuldades na comunicação percebidas por pais de crianças com Síndrome de Down (SD), com Distúrbio do Espectro do Autismo (DEA) e com Distúrbio Específico de Linguagem (DEL). MÉTODOS: As informações foram colhidas a partir da aplicação de um questionário com 24 questões fechadas envolvendo a percepção dos pais a respeito da comunicação de seu(a) filho(a) e das dificuldades identificadas. Essas 24 questões foram divididas em quatro domínios: 1 - Dificuldades pessoais dos pais; 2 - Impressão dos pais sobre eles próprios em relação aos seus filhos; 3 - Impressões a respeito das atitudes dos outros em relação à criança e 4 - Impressão dos pais em relação aos seus filhos. Participaram desta pesquisa 60 pais, sendo 20 de crianças com SD, 20 de crianças com DEA e 20 de crianças com DEL; todos com idade entre 6 e 12 anos. RESULTADOS: Foi possível observar que houve diferença significativa entre o grupo de pais de crianças com DEA com SD e DEL nos domínios 2, 3 e 4. CONCLUSÃO: O questionário é efetivo para a identificação das dificuldades de comunicação das crianças portadoras de DEA a partir de dados colhidos com seus pais e/ou cuidadores, mas não ...

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