Is stereotype language? Senses in the therapeutics of children of the autistic spectrum

Abstract

The aim of this research was to investigate the possible relationship between stereotypes and languagedevelopment in autistic spectrum children. The subjects of this study were three boys with diagnoses ofGlobal Development Disorder, their mothers and the speech therapist responsible for the conduction ofthe therapeutic process. Films of thirty minutes were made of children in interaction with their mothersor with the speech therapist in free play during the first and tenth month of the therapy. Continuedinterviews were made with the mothers, too. The data were transcribed and analyzed qualitatively. Inall the cases, at first it was observed that the increasing of the jargons, echolalia speech and stereotypedmovements occurred more on moments in which the mother acted on a directive form to catch the attentionof her son. The subject 1 presented lesser evolution suppression terms of stereotypes due to increasingprecariousness of his play and language development established in the beginning of the therapy. In thesubjects 2 and 3 there was a great development of the oral language, not only in occupation of discursivepositions, concerning a larger grammar domain, as well as a decrease of stereotypes. It was verified thediminishing of stereotypes with the development of language in the three subjects studied, overall in thesubjects 2 and 3 that began the speaking. All the subjects showed that the stereotypes were triggered bydialogical situations, that is, though less advanced in expressive terms than other linguistic forms, theywere not meaningless.