IDENTIFICAÇÃO DOS PRIMEIROS SINAIS DO AUTISMO DETECTADOS PELOS PAIS

Abstract

Autism spectrum disorder is a neurodevelopmental disorder that manifests in childhood through deficits in communication, social interaction, and restricted, repetitive patterns of behavior. The diagnosis is essentially clinical and, when performed early, will contribute to obtaining a better prognosis in the treatment. Therefore, the main objective of our research was to identify the first signs of autism detected by the parents, in addition to identifying the age of recognition of the first signs and the signs that made the parents seek health care. The development of the research took place through the distribution of an online form via Google Forms, which in its first part was composed of sociodemographic questions and an open question about the signs that made parents or guardians seek health care and a second part with the DSM-IV criteria for the child's parent or guardian to fulfill the first identified signs and the child's age at detection among the options in the diagnostic manual. A total of 102 forms were collected, 8 of which were discarded due to the absence of a diagnosis of autism in the child and 8 discarded due to invalid answers, with 86 questionnaires used for analysis. Our research identified that the average age of diagnosis of autism was 3.39 years, with an insignificant difference between the genders. The first signs identified that made parents seek help in children diagnosed with 3 years of age or less were repetitive movements, the same sign for children diagnosed with more than 3 years of age. When grouped together, behavioral changes were the main reason for seeking health care in children diagnosed with 3 years of age or less, with “other signs” being the main reasons for seeking health care in children diagnosed with more than 3 years of age. Still, the first sign of autism identified retrospectively was a decrease in the use of multiple non-verbal behaviors, such as eye contact, facial expression, body posture and gestures, with a mean age of identification of 1.42 years, followed by absorbing concern by one or more stereotyped and restrictive patterns of interest, with a mean age of 1.65 years. When grouped together, the earliest retrospectively identified sign was the deficit in social interaction, with a mean age of 1.67 years.