Fenótipo Ampliado do Autismo e Habilidades Pragmáticas em Pais e Mães de Crianças com e sem Transtorno do Espectro Autista

Abstract

The broader autism phenotype (BAP) has been defined as subclinical traits that configure the phenotypic expression of genetic susceptibility to the development of Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD). The literature has pointed to the relationship between communicative-pragmatic skills and autism. However, there is controversy as to whether these skills constitute a specific feature of the BAP. Still, research with first-degree relatives of people with ASD has not yet been successful in establishing definitive markers. Thus, this study compared the performance of parents of children with (n=26) and without ASD (n=26) in communicative-pragmatic skills tasks and BAP indicators. The Broader Autism Phenotype Questionnaire (BAPQ) and subtests of the Montreal Communication Evaluation Battery (MAC Battery), and the Wechsler Abbreviated Intelligence Scale (WASI) were applied. The results indicated that parents of children with ASD had greater difficulty in the pragmatic language of the bapq, although they did not meet the criteria for bap and in communicative-pragmatic skills of conversational speech, emotional prosody, metaphor interpretation, and indirect speech acts. The clinical group also presented a lower verbal IQ score compared to the non-clinical group. It is concluded that greater difficulties in cognitive-pragmatic skills may be a central and probably specific aspect of the BAP in family members of children with ASD, as well as difficulties in structural aspects of language, such as verbal intelligence. These results have implications for understanding the possible influence of familiar sociocognitive factors on the genesis of autism.