Abstract

HOMERCHER, Bibiana Massem; PERES, Laís Smeha; ARRUDA, Liziane Falleiro dos Santos  and  SMEHA, Luciane Najar. Maternal Observation: Early Signs of Autistic Spectrum Disorder. Estud. pesqui. psicol. [online]. 2020, vol.20, n.2, pp.540-558. ISSN 1808-4281.  https://doi.org/10.12957/epp.2020.52585.

Risk indicators for the child's psychic development can be identified in the first months of the baby's life. This research aimed to present and discuss the first signs observed by mothers of infants who were later diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder during childhood. The design was qualitative and quantitative. 27 mothers of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder participated. The data were obtained through a semi-structured interview and underwent a content analysis. Subsequently, the mentioned signs in the mothers' reports were listed, grouped by areas and submitted to descriptive statistics. It was observed that the most observed signs corresponded to the area of language and behavior. At the time of observation, the mothers did not relate the changes identified with the possibility of a diagnosis of Autism. They were also initially not alerted by health professionals about the indicators already presented by the babies and, consequently, the majority of the participants received the diagnosis after 36 months of the child. It is suggested that health professionals participate in training on risk signs for children's psychic development, with a view to a quality action, supported by a growing theoretical contribution on the theme.

Keywords : autism; maternity; maternal and child health; mother-child bond.

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