O brincar em crianças com transtorno do espectro autista

Abstract

Play has been the subject of study in the field of Psychology and other areas of knowledge due to its qualification as a biological, psychological, and social marker of the human species, as well as its significant importance for child development. However, in children with atypical development, especially those with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), play is often accompanied by impoverished contexts of peer interaction, difficulty in initiating and sustaining communication, a lack of social play, and other deficits associated with socioemotional skills. The aim of this study was to investigate the play of children with ASD at different levels of support. Fourteen children aged 6 to 9 years, 7 neurotypical and 7 diagnosed with ASD, were selected. The study was conducted in a specialized clinic and a private school located in Salvador-BA. Data collection involved audiovisual recording of observation sessions and the use of a recording sheet to observe free play. A total of 1,680 intervals of systematic observation were recorded. The data were analyzed using Microsoft Office Excel 2019 and version 25.0 of SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Science) for the application of statistical tests: Mann-Whitney, Spearman's Correlation, and Point Biserial. The results showed that functional play was the most prevalent among the different support levels in ASD; the highest occurrence of play behavior was in children at level 1 of support, with them playing more with sensorimotor toys, while children at levels 2 and 3 chose more technical-world toys. Children with ASD tended to present solitary interaction at the expense of group interaction, showing a high frequency of observation and exploration responses compared to neurotypical children. In conclusion, we found that all children with ASD demonstrated play behavior, but in varied ways among support levels in terms of frequency, peer interaction, toy use, types of play, and other associated behaviors such as observation, exploration, and conversation.