Avaliação de um procedimento de ensino multissensorial de leitura aplicado por profissionais com crianças com autismo

Abstract

Given the challenges related to teaching reading to children with autism using conventional methods, the use of differentiated tools is essential. This study aimed to analyze the benefit of the multisensory teaching procedure applied by professionals who accompany autistic children in school and clinical settings was sufficient to ensure learning to read monosyllabic words composed of three letters (consonant + vowel + vowel). Six students aged between five and six years with autism participated in this study, as well as six professionals who already carry out monitoring in the clinical context or in the functional resource room. The teaching procedure was organized in three phases: vowel discrimination, vowel combination, consonant discrimination, with the reading of monosyllabic words as the generalization. In addition, the generalization of learning through disyllabic words was evaluated. 85 synchronous meetings were established once a week with professionals, as well as asynchronous monitoring of the activities and videos sent by the professionals. Two assessments were applied to identify the children's reading input repertoire, followed by baseline and teaching of target behaviors that were defined based on the analysis of the results. A single-subject design was used with six participants. P1 had a single-subject analysis, being his own control. P2 and P3 were evaluated in a multiple baseline between participants. P4, P5, P6 interrupted the procedure in phase 2, due to the end of the school year. In general, in the pre-test the number of correct answers varied between 3.5% and 4%, compared to the post-test of 7% and 24% correct answers. The number of sessions was on average 32. The professionals' applications were analyzed through synchronous and asynchronous interactions with guidance on evidence-based strategies. The social validity responses indicated that the procedure was considered viable for the literacy process, recognizing the intervention as a systematized and solid teaching strategy, based on the principles of Behavior Analysis.