Gêmeos monozigóticos com Síndrome de Asperger: sociabilidade e cognição

Abstract

The obstacles encountered by children and adolescents with Asperger Syndrome in terms of social interaction, communication and imagination are notorious and cause feelings of distress in parents seeking schools for their children and specialized centers to treat them. The research has evolved greatly over the years since the first descriptions on the disorder in the first half of the twentieth century, pointing out different views and methods of intervention, some of which could be carried out by the parents, teachers and caregivers. However, in terms of portuguese in general and specifically the brazilian reality, there is a lack of instruments that can be used in teaching social skills and cognitive abilities to those individuals with Asperger Syndrome. Drawing on the experience of british researchers, who in the nineties have produced a practical guide for parents and teachers titled "Teaching children with autism to mind-read: a Practical Guide for teachers and parents", starting with the intervention translation into portuguese, this exploratory study has objectives: to assess the effectiveness of this instrument in teaching cognitive and social skills, identify teaching strategies used and compare the performance of two boys of twelve, twins monozygotic twins with Asperger Syndrome, students at a public school of the Rio de Janeiro s county. The methodology involved the comparative analysis scores of pre and post intervention, the evaluation of social skills with the Inventory of Social Skills for Multimedia Children and cognitive abilities, in particular executive functions, via some of the subtests of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children - WISC-III, and videotaping of intervention sessions and subsequent analysis of the videos to identify teaching strategies. The analysis showed that the instrument was effective in teaching social skills and cognitive deserve further studies aimed at adapting to our cultural reality; that the teaching strategy most used and contributed to the modifying the behavior of the subjects were raising issues for check for understanding, explaining unfamiliar concepts and extension of the verbal response.