Psicologia e intervenções para o autismo : revisão bibliográfica de publicações brasileiras

Abstract

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder. Its main diagnostic criteria are deficits in social communication and social interaction and restricted, repetitive patterns of behavior, interests, or activities. One of the problems related to ASD by the Brazilian population is the poor training of professionals who can identify early signs of autism. Up-to-date scientific publications available on the Internet may have a more accessible way of making this knowledge possible. This study aimed to research Brazilian publications about interventions applied by psychologists for people with ASD confirmed or suspected diagnosis. To achieve this purpose, a search was made through Capes and Scielo databases, using the keywords "Autism", "Autism spectrum disorder", "Autism spectrum disorders" and "Asperger". Then, it was determined inclusion and exclusion criteria in order to select only those articles describing interventions. The final sample has 27 articles. Three were classified as Theoretical, eight as Empirical and 16 as Case Studies, according to the author elaborated classification. The results show that there are too few publications containing applied interventions by Brazilian psychologists to people with autism. There is a need to increase the amount of Portuguese publications in order to offer proper and early assistance to this group.