Comunicação alternativa e ampliada na sala de aula: dialogando com estudantes com TEA

Abstract

The elevated number of non-assisted students with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in regular classrooms redirects researchers’ thoughts towards continuing education for teachers who work directly with these students. These teachers face different obstacles which impede students’ advances both in the learning process and in their school inclusion. The main difficulties are regarding communicating and interaction. In order to deal with such reality, teachers needs to have specific knowledge; to work with their colleagues; to be open to reflect upon their practice; and to have the search for strategies as their main goal, so that their ASD students are provided with opportunity to express their thoughts and needs. Thus, the present study aims to structure, implement and verify the effects of a teacher training program in the use of Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC), according to the theoretical assumptions of the PECS-Adaptado, in which teachers were able to interact with ASD students without functional speech attending Elementary School. The study was carried out in an almost experimental outline, type A-B intrasubject, when teachers' communicative behaviors were observed with their students in the regular classroom in three moments: pre-baseline, baseline, and intervention. The study was developed in order to verify if the regular class teacher training program in the use of AAC based on theoretical assumptions of the PECS-Adaptado, in which teachers worked with ASD students without functional speech, affected their communication skills during interaction. A qualitative analysis of the communicative behavior of the regular class teacher and his interactions with students without functional speech is also presented. Two teachers and three students (aged seven to ten years old, diagnosed with ASD and without functional speech) participated in the study. The study was carried out in two classrooms of a regular public school. To transcribe the data, tables of the participants' communicative acts were made, on which the occurrences were verified at five-minute intervals. The results showed an improvement in interaction between teachers and ASD students, as well as an increase in interactive episodes and in students' level of interest in the activities presented. The planning of activities through discussions between the teachers and the researcher was fundamental for classroom interaction improvement. The implementation of the training program improved communicative interaction between teachers and students and positively changed the teachers’ practice. It also revealed that the use of AAC in regular classroom favors conversation and assists in pedagogical activities and social relations in different contexts. The study points out possibilities for unfolding and deepening in future research.