Autistic and functional profile of children with ASD recently enrolled in an APAE

Abstract

Introduction.  Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is characterized by deficits in communication and social interaction, which cause damage to the individual's functionality.  Goal.  To outline the autistic and functional profile of children with ASD, recently joining an Association of Parents and Friends of the Exceptional.  Method.  Cross-sectional research, carried out at the Fundação Varginhense de Assistência aos Excepcionais (FUVAE), in Varginha-MG. Children enrolled between August 2022 and February 2023 were recruited. A questionnaire containing sociodemographic variables, the Childhood Autism Rating Scale, was administered to classify autism levels and the Pediatric Assessment of Disabilities Inventory - Computerized Adaptive Testing (PEDI-CAT), for functional analysis. The data were processed and the Shapiro Wilk normality test and Pearson correlation were applied. The significance level adopted was p<0.05.  Results.  10 participants were selected, with an average age of 4.10 years, classified as having mild autism.  Regarding the PEDI-CAT continuous score, the responsibility domain was most affected.  The sample has functional performance expected for their age in all skills assessed by PEDI-CAT, through the normative score.  There was no correlation between levels of autism and functional performance.  Conclusion.  The sample has the expected functional profile for the age group, in relation to typical children, regarding the items: daily activities, mobility and social/cognitive activities. However, responsibility is the most affected functional aspect, according to the PEDI-CAT continuous score.