This diploma thesis focuses on the support of reading and development of reading competences of pupils with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The theoretical part first discusses individuals with autism spectrum disorder, characteristics of diagnosis and their education. The next section generally summarizies the concepts related to reading. It also looks at the role of the school, teacher and literary eduacation in the development and support of reading. It further discusses teaching methods, which develop reading comprehension. The last part focuces specifically on the reading skills of children with ASD. The part concludes with deficits in reading for meaning and reading comprehension interventions. The aim of this thesis was to find out how teachers develop reading skills for pupils with ASD in primary school. The data was obtained from structured interviews with teachers working with pupils with ASD. The research questions were focused on the level of support for reading by teachers, the specifics of working with pupils with ASD and the use of texts related to student's interests and experiences. Research suggests that teachers don't have much information about the reading comprehension of children with ASD. They are based on their own experience. The experiences of teachers show that children...

The topic of this thesis is the self-concept of school success of a pupils with autism spectrum disorder. It focuses on academic self-concept and academic self-efficacy as two important and related concepts. These concepts are also compared. We know from available researches that pupils with autism spectrum disorder have lower self-concept in some areas than normal pupils. This research project aimed to compare the self- concept of school success with pupils with autism spectrum disorder with a normative sample of normal pupils and also with pupils with other difficulties in each category. Questionnaire method and interview were used. The results show that child with autism spectrum disorder have just a higher self-concept of orthography than normal child. Also they have higher self-concept at maths, reading, orthography, writing, self- confidence and global score of self-concept than dyslexic child. Next they have higher global self-concept and self-concept of maths than child with mild brain dysfunction. The others scales showed no statistically significant difference. The interview showed that about 40% of children with autism spectrum disorder don't like math and 40% of children with autism spectrum disorder have problem in maths. KEY WORDS Autism Spectrum Disorder, self-concept, academic...

Being a woman and living with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) involves double difficulties. Women need to put up with gender-normative demands on how women should be and women with ASD also face difficulties when trying to live “as others”, despite their symptoms. In this thesis we aim to, from an intersectional perspective, study how women with ASD handle gender-normative demands in combination with the maintenance of a good self-image and relationships with others. Our study is a qualitative literature study in which the empirics are based on autobiographies written by, or in collaboration with, women with ASD. The results, concerning the difficulties that women with ASD face, go hand in hand with what previous studies show; women with ASD are shown to mask and imitate their surroundings and theirself-image often change when being diagnosed. Our addition to previous studies is the critical approach to how researchers refer to and study women with functional variation. We find a unilateral perspective insufficient and stress that an intersectional perspective is needed to understand the difficulties women with ASD face. Functional variation or gender alone does not give a full perspective. In our study we therefore have an intersectional, multidimensional, perspective and show that the difficulties women with ASD experience are not only related to their diagnosis but also to their gender.

O Transtorno do Espectro Autista (TEA) é uma doença do neurodesenvolvimento. É caracterizado por déficits significativos e persistentes na comunicação e na interação social e por padrões restritos e repetitivos de comportamento, interesses ou atividades. O TEA é considerado uma doença comum, afetando 1 a cada 68 crianças e com uma proporção de 4,2 meninos afetados para cada menina (.A etiologia do autismo apresenta um forte componente genético. Neste contexto, as metodologias genômicas de larga escala (Sequenciamento de nova geração, microarray) contribuíram para o conhecimento sobre a genética do TEA. No entanto, em aproximadamente 70% dos pacientes, o transtorno permanece com etiologia não identificada. Com base nisso, para o presente trabalho, elaborou-se a hipótese de que pequenas CNVs (entre 1 e 50 Kb), que se encontram abaixo da resolução da maioria dos microarrays comerciais, e cuja detecção ainda apresenta limitações para a sua detecção através de sequenciamento de nova geração, poderiam contribuir para o fenótipo em uma proporção significativa dos casos. Como primeira etapa para abordar essa questão, realizou-se a metodologia de aCGH customizado 60K cobrindo um total de 269 genes candidatos ao TEA, a fim de selecionar CNVs potencialmente patogênicas entre 98 pacientes brasileiros com TEA idiopático. Com esta triagem inicial, a prevalência de CNVs potencialmente patogênicas obtida foi de 9%, com 20% delas caracterizadas como pequenas. A análise subsequente foi realizada com a metodologia de aCGH customizado 180K, o qual cobriu um total de 1527 genes candidatos ao TEA. Um total de 63 pacientes com autismo foram analisados com este novo array. A partir destas hibridações, a prevalência de CNVs potencialmente patogênicas obtida foi de 12,7%, com 62,5 % delas classificadas como pequenas. Esta taxa de detecção é bastante expressiva, particularmente se considerarmos que a amostra de pacientes utilizada foi submetida a uma pré-triagem, com a finalidade de excluir os pacientes com as CNVs mais prevalentes no TEA, nas regiões 15q11-q13, 16p11.2 e 22q13.3. A última abordagem utilizada neste trabalho foi comparar a detecção de CNVs pela metodologia de aCGH, referência padrão ouro para detecção de CNVs, com a de sequenciamento de nova geração (NGS). Os dados de 9 pacientes obtidos por NGS foram analisados através dos softwares NextGene e XHMM. Os softwares, no entanto, apresentaram resultados discrepantes entre si e pouca sobreposição com os dados de aCGH 180K, de 38,9% e 50%, considerando o NextGene e o XHMM respectivamente. Os resultados obtidos sugerem que o aCGH customizado é promissor para a detecção de CNVs pequenas e que essas, por sua vez, podem contribuir para o risco de TEA em pelo menos 6,3 %, dos casos / Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder. It is characterized by significant and persistent deficits in communication and social interaction, and by restricted and repetitive patterns of behavior, interests or activities. ASD is considered a common disease, affecting 1 in 68 children and a proportion of 4.2 boys affected for each girl.The etiology of autism has a strong genetic component. In this context, genomic methodologies of high-throughput (new generation sequencing, microarray) contributed to the knowledge about the genetics of ASD. However, in approximately 70% of patients with ASD, the disorder remains with unidentified etiology. Therefore, foi this work, it was hypothesized that small CNVs (between 1 and 50 Kb), which are below the resolution of most commercial microarrays and and whose detection still has limitations for its detection detection through NGS, could contribute to the phenotype in a proportion of cases. As a first step to address this hypothesis, it was performed the methodology of custom aCGH 60K, covering a total of 269 ASD candidate genes, in order to select potentially pathogenic CNVs among 98 Brazilian patients with idiopathic ASD. With this initial screening, the prevalence of potentially pathogenic CNVs obtained was 9%, with 20% of them characterized as small. The subsequent analysis was performed using the 180K custom aCGH methodology, which covered a total of 1527 TEA candidate genes. A total of 63 patients with autism were analyzed with this new array. From these hybridizations, the prevalence of potentially pathogenic CNVs obtained was 12.7%, with 62.5% of them classified as small. This detection rate is quite significant, particularly considering that the sample of patients used was pre-screened, in order to exclude patients with the most prevalent CNVs in ASD in the regions 15q11-q13, 16p11.2 and 22q13.3. The last approach used in this work was to compare the detection of CNVs by the methodology of aCGH, gold standard reference for CNVs detection, with the next generation sequencing (NGS).Data from 9 patients obtained by NGS were analyzed using NextGene and XHMM software. The softwares, however, presented discrepant results among themselves and little overlap with the data of aCGH 180K, of 38.9% and 50%, considering NextGene and XHMM respectively. These results suggest that the customized aCGH represents a promising approach for the detection of small CNVs and that these, in turn, can contribute to the risk of ASD in at least 6,3 % of cases

[pt] A capacidade de conexão afetiva parece faltar às crianças com autismo o que prejudica as experiências intersubjetivas primária e secundária e, consequentemente, o desenvolvimento simbólico. As pesquisas desenvolvidas para a compreensão dos déficits na capacidade simbólica das crianças com transtorno do espectro autista (TEA) identificam dados quantitavos em relação aos comportamentos sociais, comunicativos pré-verbais e verbais e afetivos. No entanto, existe uma lacuna na tentativa de compreender como é a qualidade das interações sócio- afetivas iniciais destas crianças. Sabe-se que a conexão afetiva é pré-requisito básico para o desenvolvimento típico (DT) da capacidade de simbolizar. Esta pesquisa teve como objetivo investigar se e como ocorreu a conexão afetiva de 2 crianças TEA estando elas em interação com uma terapeuta. Foi incluído um grupo controle composto por 2 crianças DT. A descrição qualitativa de 5 cenas de filmagem mostrou que, apesar de haver diferenças qualitativas entre o grupo TEA e o grupo DT, é possível observar sinais sutis da conexão afetiva entre crianças autistas e a terapeuta. / [en] The ability to establish affective relatedness appears to be lacking in children with autism. As a result, the primary and secondary intersubjective engagements with others are impaired and affect the development of the child`s ability to symbolize. Research conducted on children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has identified quantitative data in connection with social behavior, pre verbal and verbal communication behavior, and emotional behavior. However, this research has not yet addressed the quality of the initial social and emotional relationships established by children with autism. It is widely known that the emotional connection is an important prerequisite for the symbolization ability in typical development (TD). The present research focuses on the investigation of two ASD children`s affective relatedness during their interaction with a therapist. A control group formed by 2 TD children was included in the investigation. The description of 5 taped scenes demonstrates that regardless of the qualitative differences among the ASD and TD groups, it is possible to observe a subtle trace of affective relatedness between the autistic children and the therapist.

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a heterogeneous group of neurodevelopmental disorders that affects about 1% of the worldwide population and has a strong genetic component. Stereotyped behavior and restricted interests, as well as problems of social interaction and communication characterize ASD. Moreover, in 10% of cases, ASD occurs as a secondary condition in addition to a syndrome, such as Phelan-McDermid syndrome (PMS), which is associated with a great clinical variability. Among genetic factors, copy number variations (CNVs) are one of the most important. However, the clinical significance of many CNVs remains nuclear and there is an underrepresentation of small CNVs associated with ASD in the literature. In this context, this project aimed to 1) characterize large and small CNVs in Brazilian patients with ASD using an array-CGH previously customized in our laboratory. 2) Clinically and genetically describe a cohort of Brazilian patients with PMS, as well as to determine the frequency of this syndrome among Brazilian patients with ASD and other neurodevelopmental disorders. In result, we 1) further validated the customized array-CGH, 2) provided additional evidence of association with ASD for 27 candidate genes, 3) described 15 CNVs never reported in the literature in association with this disorder, 4) presented evidence that around 70% of CNVs found in our cohort are not polymorphism of our population and 5) reinforced the idea of shared molecular pathways among different neurodevelopmental disorders. In addition, we described for the first time a Brazilian cohort of patients with PMS and contributed to the molecular and clinical characterization of this syndrome. We also provided additional evidence of genotype-phenotype association with regard to the presence of renal problems and speech status in patients with PMS and estimated the frequency of this syndrome among Brazilian patients with ASD and intellectual disability (syndromic or not). With these results, we hope to contribute to better understand the ASD and PMS etiology, especially in our population / O Transtorno do Espectro Autista (TEA) corresponde ao um grupo heterogêneo de alterações no neurodesenvolvimento que afeta cerca de 1% da população mundial e apresenta um forte componente genético. O TEA é caracterizado pela presença de comportamento estereotipado e interesses restritos, além de problemas de interação social e comunicação. Além disso, em 10% dos casos, o TEA ocorre como uma condição secundária somada a uma síndrome. Um exemplo é a síndrome de Phelan-McDermid (PMS), associada a uma grande variabilidade clínica. Dentre os fatores genéticos, as variações no número de cópias (CNVs) são um dos mais importantes. No entanto, o significado clínico de muitas CNVs permanece incerto, além de haver juma sub-representação de CNVs pequenas associadas ao TEA na literatura. Dentro deste contexto, este projeto teve como objetivos 1) caracterizar CNVs grandes e pequenas em pacientes brasileiros com TEA utilizando uma lâmina de array-CGH previamente customizada no Laboratório de Genética do Desenvolvimento - USP. 2) descrever clínica e geneticamente uma casuística de pacientes brasileiros com PMS, bem como determinar a frequência desta síndrome em pacientes com TEA e com outras alterações de neurodesenvolvimento. Como resultados, nós 1) validamos a lâmina customizada, 2) fornecemos evidencia adicional de associação com o TEA para 27 genes, 3) descrevemos 15 CNVs nunca reportadas em associação com o transtorno 4) apresentamos evidências de que cerca de 70% das CNVs encontradas em nossa coorte não são polimorfismo de nossa população e 5) reforçamos a ideia de vias moleculares compartilhadas entre diferentes alterações do neurodesenvolvimento. Além disso, descrevemos pela primeira vez uma casuística brasileira de pacientes com PMS e contribuímos para a síndrome. Fornecemos evidência adicional de associação genótipo-fenótipo no que diz respeito à presença de problemas renais e status de fala em pacientes com PMS e estimamos a frequência da síndrome entre pacientes brasileiros com TEA e com deficiência intelectual (sindrômica ou não). Com estes resultados, esperamos ter contribuído para o entendimento da etiologia tanto do TEA, quanto da PMS, sobretudo na nossa população

Autisme et schizophrénie sont deux troubles psychiatriques neuro-développementaux. L’étude des formes précoces de schizophrénie, fréquemment associées aux troubles du spectre de l’autisme (TSA), a suggéré un possible continuum développemental entre ces troubles. Des arguments cliniques et épidémiologiques, et issus des études en génétique moléculaire ou en imagerie cérébrale, sont progressivement venus étayer cette hypothèse. Dans ce contexte, l’étude de la cognition sociale a fait l’objet d’un intérêt particulier, des altérations étant rapportées dans les deux troubles avec toutefois des résultats contrastés, révélant autant de points communs que de différences. Les relations entre altération de la cognition sociale et charge neuro-développementale ont par ailleurs été peu explorées. A travers nos trois études, nous avons confirmé l’existence d’altérations de la cognition sociale dans les TSA et la schizophrénie. Le MASC (Movie for the Assessment of Social Cognition), épreuve mixte et originale dont nous avons validé la version française, a permis de montrer une altération globale des capacités de mentalisation plus importante dans les TSA que dans la schizophrénie. Les Triangles Animés (épreuve d’attribution d’intention reposant sur un matériel non verbal) ont permis de révéler des différences qualitatives : tandis que l’hypomentalisation est commune aux deux troubles, l’hypermentalisation apparaît plus marquée dans la schizophrénie. Par ailleurs, à travers un continuum autisme-schizophrénie, l’altération de la cognition sociale était liée à la désorganisation de la pensée et du langage, et à l’importance des signes neurologiques mineurs (marqueur de vulnérabilité neurodéveloppementale). En outre, chez les sujets avec schizophrénie, l’hypermentalisation était corrélée à la précocité d’installation du trouble. Nos résultats soulignent l’intérêt de pouvoir repérer chez des patients adultes un trouble du développement. En ce sens, nous avons présenté les premiers éléments de validation d’un autoquestionnaire de dépistage des troubles du développement, permettant en population adulte un repérage rétrospectif des signes et symptômes d’autisme présents dans l’enfance. En conclusion, nos résultats apportent des arguments en faveur du continuum autisme-schizophrénie, en montrant l’existence d’une altération de la cognition sociale, dans ces deux troubles, corrélée à la charge neuro-développementale de façon trans-nosographique. Il existe toutefois des différences qualitatives. Un sous-groupe de sujets avec schizophrénie dont le trouble a débuté précocement semble par ailleurs se dessiner, caractérisé par une tendance à hyper-mentaliser et présentant une désorganisation plus marquée. / Autism and schizophrenia are both neurodevelopmental psychiatric disorders. Research on early-onset schizophrenia, commonly associated to autism spectrum disorders (ASD), suggested a possible developmental continuum between both of these disorders. Clinical and epidemiological evidence, and research from molecular genetics or brain imaging, come to support this hypothesis. In this context, social cognition is a matter of special interest. Impairments are reported both in the two disorders, but with inconsistent results, revealing common features as well as differences. Otherwise, links between social cognition impairments and neurodevelopmental burden have been until now poorly explored. Through the contribution of our three studies, we confirmed the importance of social cognition impairment in autism and schizophrenia. The MASC test (Movie for the Assessment of Social Cognition), an original tool which was by our findings validated in a French version, revealed higher overall impairment of mentalizing capabilities in ASD than in schizophrenia. Animated Shapes (non verbal test of attribution of intentions) revealed qualitative differences: whereas hypomentalizing is common both to ASD and schizophrenia, overmentalizing seemed to be more important in schizophrenia. Furthermore, along a continuum between autism and schizophrenia, social cognition impairment was linked to thought and language disorganization, and to neurological soft signs (a marker for neurodevelopmental load). In addition, in subjects with schizophrenia, overmentalizing was correlated to the precocity of onset of the disease. Altogether, our results highlight the need to screen developmental feature in adulthood. In that way, we presented preliminary results in order to validate a developmental disorders screening self-rated questionnaire. As a conclusion, our results bring evidence in favour of a hypothesis of a continuum between autism and schizophrenia, showing a social cognition impairment in both disorders, correlated to the neurodevelopmental load existing in both of them in a transnosographic way. We contributed to emphasize the sub-group of subjects with schizophrenia with early-onset of disease, characterized by a tendency to overmentalizing and presenting a marked disorganization. Our work provides avenue to further studies, integrating neuroimaging and genetic data, that will help to advance in a deeper comprehension of the pathophysiology of autism and schizophrenia. Furthermore, we used and validated in this work promising tools to improve finely psychopathological evaluation and differential diagnosis in adults suffering from autism and from schizophrenia.

Uma parcela significativa de crianças com Transtorno do Espectro Autista (TEA) é acometida pela regressão desenvolvimental, definida como a perda de habilidades previamente adquiridas. A perda de palavras, especificamente, tem se mostrado característica de crianças com TEA e vem sendo destacada como um potencial sinal de alerta para o transtorno. Desta forma, a presente pesquisa teve como objetivo geral investigar a aquisição e a eventual perda de palavras em indivíduos com TEA, sendo desenvolvidos três estudos complementares. O primeiro deles objetivou revisar, sistematicamente, a literatura acerca da regressão de linguagem no TEAe identificou que há pelo menos 30 anos esse fenômeno vêm chamando a atenção de pesquisadores, o que resultou no refinamento atual da definição operacional da regressão de linguagem. Contudo, foram percebidas lacunas teóricas e metodológicas, principalmenteem relação à investigaçãoda qualidade do desenvolvimento infantil anteriormente à perda e à falta de clareza sobre os princípios teóricos que embasam o fenômeno. O segundo estudo objetivou investigar a especificidade da regressão de linguagem nos casos de TEA, examinando a aquisição das primeiras palavras e sua eventual perda em três grupos de indivíduos: com TEA, com síndrome de Downe sem relato de atraso no desenvolvimento sociocomunicativo. Os resultados demonstraram que a perda de palavras foi significativamente mais frequente no grupo com TEA, ocorrendo, em média, em torno do segundo aniversário da criança. Finalmente, o terceiro estudo focou uma questãopouco investigada nesta área: a validação do relato parental acerca da ocorrência da perda de habilidades no TEA (i.e., palavras, interação social e brincadeira) por meio da análise de vídeos domésticos de um menino com o referido transtorno, gravados antes da perda. Foi possível identificar 171 episódios envolvendo os comportamentos investigados, incluindo palavras, predominantemente utilizadas em situações comunicativas. Portanto, os resultados validaram as informações parentais sobre a ocorrência da perda de palavras e de outras habilidades, além de fornecerinformações adicionais sobre as características do comportamento da criança antes da perda. Desse modo, tomados em conjunto, os achados dos estudos desenvolvidos demonstraram que: a) há evidências suficientes para que a regressão de linguagem, e mais especificamente a perda de palavras, desponte como um sinal de alerta para o TEA; b) os relatos parentais acerca da ocorrência desse fenômeno podem constituir uma fonte válida de informação; e c) a abordagem sociopragmática auxilia na compreensão teoricamente embasada da perda de habilidades. / A significant number of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)is affected by developmental regression, a phenomenon characterized by loss of previously acquired skills. The loss of words, specifically, has been identified as a characteristic ofchildren with ASD and has been highlighted as a potential warning sign for the disorder. Thus, the present study aimed to investigate the acquisition and eventual loss of words in individuals with ASD by developing three complementary studies. The first one aimed to systematically review the literature on language regression in ASD and has identified that for at least 30 years this phenomenon have been drawing the attention of researchers, which resulted in the current refinement of the operational definition of language regression. However, theoretical and methodological gaps were identified mainly regarding the investigation of the quality of child development prior to the loss and the lack of clarity regarding the theoretical principals that underline the phenomenon. The second study aimed to investigate the specificity of language regression in cases of ASD by examining the acquisition of first words and their eventual loss in three groups of individuals: with ASD, with Down syndrome and with typical development. The results showed that the loss of words was significantly more frequent in the ASD group, occurring on average around the child's second birthday.Finally, the third study focused on an issue understudied in this area: the validation of parental reporton the occurrence of skills loss (i.e., words, social interaction and play) through the analysis of home videos of a boy with the disorder, recorded before the loss.It was possible to identify 171 episodes involving the behaviors investigated, including words mainly used in communicative situations. Therefore, the results validated the parental report on the occurrence of loss of words and other skills, as well as provided additional information about the characteristics of the child's behavior before the loss.Thus, taken together, the findings of the developed studies showed that: a) there is sufficient evidence for language regression, and more specifically for loss of words, to emerge as a warning signal for ASD; b) parental reports on the occurrence of this phenomenon can serve as a valid source of information; e) the social-pragmaticapproach helps in the theoretical understanding of skill loss.

O Transtorno do Espectro do Autismo (TEA) é uma deficiência do desenvolvimento neurológico, em que tem sido relatada dificuldade com a integração multisensorial, o que pode dificultar as habilidades cognitivas e motoras para permitir aprendizagem de diferentes tarefas e comunicação social. Considerando a possibilidade de interação em tarefas 3D por meio de dispositivos que necessitem de contato físico ou não, optou-se por avaliar pessoas com TEA e com DT em uma tarefa virtual variando o dispositivo de interação em duas seqüências de prática. Objetivou-se verificar se as pessoas com TEA são capazes de melhorar o desempenho em uma tarefa executada em um ambiente mais virtual (sem contato físico) ou mais real (com contato físico), e se essa melhora de desempenho pode ser transferida entre esses ambientes. Para a realização deste trabalho foram avaliadas 100 pessoas, divididas em dois grupos: 50 no grupo TEA, com idade entre 7 e 15 anos (11,3 ± 2,4 anos), 38 do sexo masculino e 12 do sexo feminino; e 50 pessoas com desenvolvimento típico - grupo DT, pareados por idade e sexo ao grupo TEA. Todos os participantes que realizaram ambas as seqüências mostraram uma tendência de atraso de movimento, mas os participantes que realizaram a seqüência B - a tarefa na barra de espaço primeiro - apresentaram mais atraso (m = 511 ms) do que os participantes que realizaram a seqüência A - tarefa no kinect -primeiro (m = 305 ms). Para ambas as seqüências, o erro absoluto foi maior para a interface kinect. Além disso, o grupo TEA reduziu significativamente o EV com a prática, enquanto que para o grupo DT esta diferença não ocorreu. Para o erro absoluto na fase de transferência, os resultados mostraram diferenças significativas para o grupo TEA entre os blocos A1 para a interface barra de espaço na Seqüência A (m = 475 ms) e Seqüência B (m = 718 ms). Desta forma, a prática na interface kinect (ambiente mais virtual) promoveu um melhor desempenho na interface de pressionar a barra de espaço (ambiente mais real), mas apenas para pessoas com TEA. Podemos concluir que pessoas com TEA melhoraram o seu desempenho independente do ambiente estimulado, porém com desempenho inferior ao grupo com desenvolvimento típico. E apenas o grupo TEA conseguiu transferir a prática do ambiente com características mais virtuais para com características mais reais / Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a deficiency of neurological development, in which difficulty has been reported with multisensory integration, which may hamper cognitive and motor skills to allow learning of different tasks and social communication. Considering the possibility of interaction in 3D tasks through devices that require physical contact or not, we opted to evaluate people with ASD and DT in a virtual task by varying the interaction device in two practice sequences. The objective was to verify if people with ASD are able to improve performance in a task executed in a more virtual (no physical contact) or more real (with physical contact) environment, and if this improvement of performance can be transferred between these environments. For the accomplishment of this work 100 people were evaluated, divided into two groups: 50 in the TEA group, with ages between 7 and 15 years (11.3 ± 2.4 years), 38 males and 12 females; And 50 people with typical development - DT group, matched by age and sex to the TEA group. All participants who performed both sequences showed a tendency of movement delay, but the participants who performed the sequence B - the task in the space bar first - presented more delay (m = 511 ms) than the participants who performed the sequence A - task in kinect - first (m = 305 ms). For both sequences, the absolute error was higher for the kinect interface. In addition, the TEA group significantly reduced the EV with the practice, whereas for the DT group this difference did not occur. For the absolute error in the transfer phase, the results showed significant differences for the TEA group between blocks A1 for the space bar interface in Sequence A (m = 475 ms) and Sequence B (m = 718 ms). In this way, practice in the kinect interface (more virtual environment) promoted a better performance in the interface of pressing the space bar (more real environment), but only for people with ASD. We can conclude that people with ASD improved their performance independent of the stimulated environment, but with inferior performance to the group with typical development. And only the TEA group managed to transfer the practice of the environment with more virtual characteristics to more real characteristics

O Transtorno do Espectro do Autismo (TEA) inclui um conjunto de sintomas, tais como dificuldade para sustentar contato visual direto e comprometimento da linguagem. Apesar da Terapia Assistida Por Animais (TAA) com cães ser considerada uma modalidade terapêutica eficaz para promover o desenvolvimento de pessoas com TEA, ainda não são se sabe quais características dos cães possibilitam alcançar sucesso na terapia. Esta análise quantitativa tem como objetivo verificar o impacto de abordagens laterais e frontais de cães e humanos nas expressões emocionais de alegria e rejeição de crianças com TEA. Através da análise de vídeos de TAA, foram mensuradas duração e frequência das abordagens laterais e frontais de cães e humanos dirigidas às crianças para comparar possíveis diferenças entre ambos e também para verificar se a abordagem escolhida afetava o tipo de expressão emocional exibida pela criança. Os participantes deste projeto foram 11 crianças, 8 do sexo masculino e 3 do sexo feminino, entre 5 e 11 anos. Seis crianças foram atendidas por uma psicóloga, uma condutora e um Border Collie. O segundo grupo era composto pela mesma psicóloga, uma condutora e uma Golden Retriever. Escalas de avaliação foram aplicadas para confirmar o diagnóstico de TEA. Os cães foram previamente avaliados e treinados por uma instituição que atua na área de TAA. Cinco minutos de 8 sessões foram analisadas: um bloco de seis sessões com o cão, uma sessão anterior e uma sessão posterior a este bloco. Para verificar possíveis diferenças temperamentais entre cães, o C-barq (Canine Behavioral Assesment & Research Questionnaire) foi aplicado para analisar o temperamento de ambos. Embora esta análise tenha demonstrado diferenças em relação às categorias busca de atenção e nível de energia dos cães, não foram verificadas diferenças estatísticas entre os cães, em relação às variáveis analisadas neste estudo. Na comparação entre cães e humanos, os cães foram mais efetivos para conseguir expressões de alegria independentemente do tipo de abordagem escolhida. Comparando-se o tempo de abordagem de cães e humanos até obterem expressão emocional das crianças, observou-se uma importante diferença estatística. Os resultados sugerem que os cães exibiram menor latência que humanos para todas expressões emocionais analisadas: alegria (2= 7,312, p=0,007), de rejeição (2= 11,277, p-0,001) e neutras (2=9,097, p=0,043). Além disso, os resultados sugerem que, no contexto da TAA, não há relação entre abordagem lateral ou frontal e expressões de alegria, rejeição ou neutras de crianças com TEA. As expressões de alegria foram mais frequentes diante das abordagens laterais dos cães do que das abordagens frontais, no entanto não foi verificada significância estatística. Em relação aos humanos também não foi verificada preferência por uma abordagem especifica. Assim, os resultados sugerem que a latência para a exibição de uma expressão emocional das crianças depende mais de quem aborda do que do posicionamento lateral ou frontal quando a abordagem é realizada / Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) includes a range of symptoms such as failure to maintain direct eye contact and impaired language. Although the Animal-Assisted Therapy (AAT) is considered a potential therapy to promote development in people with ASD, it´s still unknown which specific characteristics of dogs lead to a successful therapy. This quantitative analysis aims to measure the impact of lateral and frontal approaches from dogs and humans into joy and rejection emotional expressions displayed by children with ASD. Through video´s analysis, frequencies and durations of lateral and frontal approaches from humans and dogs to children were quantified in order to compare potential differences between both and analyze the effect of the chosen approach in emotional expression display. Participated in this project 11 children, 8 males and 3 females, from 5 to 11 years old. They were divided in two groups. A psychologist, a conductor and a border collie attended six of them. The second group was composed by 5 children attended by the same psychologist, a conductor and a golden retriever. Specifics evaluation scales were applied to confirm children´s diagnosis. An institution that works in the AAT area had previously evaluated and trained both dogs. Parents signed a free-consent term before the beginning of the study. Five minutes within 8 sessions were analyzed: 6 sessions with dog´s presence, the session before and the one subsequent this block of sessions. In order to analyze potential temperamental differences between dogs, C-barq (Canine Behavioral Assessment & Research Questionnaire) was applied to check the dogs temperament. The C-barq results showed differences related to the categories search of attention and energy level of the dogs. However, the test did not indicate statistical differences on the measurement of variables linked to this study. Dogs were better than humans to get joy expressions independently on the chosen approach. A significant statistical difference was observed in the comparison of how long dogs and humans spent in approaches until they got an emotional expression from children. The results suggest that dogs showed shorter latency than humans on all analyzed emotional expressions: joy (2= 7.312, p=0.007), rejection (2= 11.277, p-0.001) and neutral (2=9.097, p=0.043) expressions. Moreover, the results suggest no link between lateral or frontal approach and specific expression of emotions in children with ASD in the context of AAT. Expressions of joy were more frequent after lateral than frontal dog´s approach, however no statistically significant difference was found. No approach preference was found in humans. Thus, results suggest that latency to emotional behavior from children depends more on who approaches than on position lateral or frontal when the approach happens