Social-cognitive performance and social-communicative adaptation in different groups of the autistic spectrum

Abstract

Background: researches about the relationship between language, cognition and socialization have evolved since the 70s. Language mediates social development allowing the individual to participate in social situations that include balanced communicative exchanges.

Aim: to assess the effectiveness of the Social-Communicative Adaptation Protocol in two groups of children and adolescents with autistic spectrum disorders and to verify the relationship between the referred protocol and the Social-Cognitive Profile.

Method: participants were 16 children and adolescents with ages between 8.0 and 16.0 years, of both genders, who were diagnosed within the autistic spectrum by neurologists and/or psychiatrists. All participants were receiving, once a week, specialized language therapy by a speech-language pathologist for a period of at least six months. Participants were assessed using the Social-cognitive Profile and the Social-Communicative Adaptation questionnaire.

Results: the analysis of the results indicated absence of significant statistical differences in the Social-Cognitive Profile between the two groups. The Social-Communicative Adaptation demonstrated to be extremely variable among the participants.

Conclusion: this research shows that autistic spectrum children do not have a symmetric and linear development of language, socialization and cognition.