EFFECTS OF SYMBOLIC GAMES OF RELATIONAL PSYCHOMOTRICITY IN AN AQUATIC ENVIRONMENT ON CHILDREN WITH AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDER
Autistic disorder; Motor activity; Recreation; Socialization; Autonomy; Aquatic Environment.
Introduction: Autism spectrum disorder is a derangement in neurodevelopment, which compromises social, communication and motor skills, as well as having affected individuals present isolated behavior and, in many cases, intellectual disability, which causes a delay in development. Therefore, we propose an intervention through the pedagogical strand of relational psychomotricity in groups, through spontaneous/symbolic playing in an aquatic environment.
Objective: To analyze the effects of the symbolic games of relational psychomotricity in an aquatic environment on the social behavior of children with autism spectrum disorder.
Methods: This is a transversal and observational descriptive study of a series of cases. Our sample will be constituted of 10 subjects of both sexes with autism spectrum disorder aged between 5 and 8 years from the Psychosocial Juvenile Child Attention Center (CAPSi) in Natal/RN, Brazil. Subjects will perform relational psychomotricity sessions twice a week, with a duration of one hour per session, totalizing sixteen interventions. We will use two questionnaires to assess symptomatic behavioral situation: ATEC (Autism Treatment Evaluation Checklist) and the ABC scale (Atypical behavior scale), which will be applied before and after 16 sessions of relational psychomotricity. All interventions will be filmed and photographed for posterior analysis, as well as the use of medical records of institutional clinic monitoring of the CAPSi of Natal, spontaneous and reflexive reports of participating professionals and semi-structured interviews with parents or accountables.