The Efficacy of the Speech and Language Therapy for Autism Spectrum Disorders

Background: Conditions that make up the Autism Spectrum disorders are characterized by severe chronic impediments to social interaction, communication and interests. Although there are numerous clinical manifestations of these disorders, we judge it important to highlight the difficulties in both verbal and non-verbal communication, as these have a significant impact on the social and cultural inclusion of individuals affected by these clinical conditions.In recent decades, language and speech intervention has been emphasized as a method for social adaptations of communicative behavior, enabling better inclusion of autistic children in their social environment.

Objectives: The aim of the present study was to evaluate the efficacy of the speech and language therapy for Autism and Asperger Syndrome.

Methods: This was a clinical trial pilot, approved by the Research Ethics Committee of the Federal University of São Paulo, under process n° 1570/08. All parents/guardians of the children signed terms of informed consent. The sample was composed of 11 children diagnosed with Autism (6) and Asperger Syndrome (5) attended in the Language and Speech Laboratory – Autistic Spectrum Disorders at Federal University of São Paulo. These children were randomly divided into two groups: Six were receiving both direct and indirect intervention (Therapy Group-TG), and five were receiving exclusively indirect intervention (Orientation Group-OG). We used the following parts of ASIEP-2 (Krug et al, 1993): Autism Behavior Checklist (ABC), Interaction Assessment (IA) and Sample of Vocal Behavior (SVB) on three occasions: at the beginning, six months later and 12 months later.  Results: We observed there was greater evolution of Therapy Group –TG in the Autism Behavior Checklist, Interaction Assessment and Sample of Vocal Behavior. The mothers and the Speech and Language Therapist perceived behavioral changes. The influence of the multidisciplinary diagnosis, age and measures of the adaptive functioning was analysed. The performance of children with Asperger Syndrome was considered more positive. There was greater evolution in the children with age 73 month or more, and in the children with normal, mild and moderate adaptive functioning,   
Conclusions: The tendency of better performance of the children attended in direct and indirect intervention showed that this association was fundamental.