Aquisição de comportamentos adaptativos num caso de perturbação do Espectro do Autismo

  • Sónia Estefânia Mendes Arouca (Student)

Student thesis: Master's Thesis

Abstract

The acquisiton of adaptive behaviors and their autonomous use in daily life is a preoccupation of Parents and Educators of youth and adults persons with developmental disorders. These behaviors use to be learned easily, in informal ways by young people, but require specialized, systematic and intensive interventions in these cases. This work is a case study, with some single-case design characteristics, organized around the objectives of describing the therapist and children behaviors across an intervention designed to promote the combing hair behavior, and assessing the final benefits of the intervention. Participants are an occupational therapist, an adolescent with a diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder, and her mother. As assessment instruments, a system of behavioral categories was designed to the direct observation of the therapeutic interaction, including adolescent (combing, refusing, etc.) and therapist behaviors (antecedents, as giving instructions or physical support; and contingent, as providing feedback or observing), and a questionnaire about autonomy behaviors to be answered by the mother in interview context, before and after the intervention. All fourteen sessions were video recorded, in order to the posterior codification of behaviors. An analysis of frequencies, tendencies and variability of behaviors across the intervention was performed. In general, the mother perceives the outcome of the intervention as positive, reporting that her daughter combs her hair many times, by herself, at home. The results are discussed in the context of the existent literature, as are this study limitations, its contributions to the practice in educational contexts, and suggestions to future research.
Date of Award10 Jul 2013
Original languagePortuguese
Awarding Institution
  • Universidade Católica Portuguesa
SupervisorMaria João Carapeto (Supervisor)

Keywords

  • Autism Spetrum Disorder
  • Adaptive behavior
  • Self-care skills
  • Case study
  • Therapeutic intervention

Designation

  • Mestrado em Ciências da Educação

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