Playing and telling stories with children with autism spectrum disorder: Mediation of adults

Abstract

The aim of this study was to describe the mediation of adults and the communication skills of two children with Autism Spectrum Disorder, in playful situations, through storytelling. The activities were carried out in a Specialized Rehabilitation Center in a city in the hinterlands of the state of São Paulo, Brazil. Two male children aged 2 years and 9 months and 3 years and 3 months old were selected. Data were collected during six months, through weekly activities with families and health professionals, following an intervention program with stories. The activities were filmed and recorded through the field diary. The categories and subcategories were identified after the videos were transcribed and the field diary records were incorporated into a single text organized in time sequence of the activities. The categories and subcategories identified in relation to the objectives of this study were: a) adult mediation: modeling, questioning and intonation of the adult interlocutor’s voice, use of supplementary and alternative communication systems: tangible system, pictographic system and combined mediation; b) skills of expression: verbal and vocal expression, non-verbal and vocal expression, non-verbal and non-vocal expression, combined expressions. The results illustrated the importance of adult mediation in the activity of storytelling as an instrument for accessing language and communicative skills of the children involved during the mediation process.