Percepção dos sinais e sintomas do autismo por acadêmicos concluintes de cursos da saúde e educação

Abstract

Objective: To identify the perception of signs and symptoms of autism by academics completing health and education courses. Method: Observational quantitative and qualitative study. A questionnaire (prepared by the researchers) was applied to the graduating students of nursing, physiotherapy, speech therapy, medicine, nutrition, pedagogy and psychology courses at PUC Goiás, where the data obtained were subsequently analyzed. Results: The sample consisted of 43 participants, most of them from nursing (20.9%) and speech therapy (20.9%) courses. 31 of the students had already had contact with children with ASD, while 12 had never had any kind of contact. It is noticed that when asked about the cure for autism, only 7% answered that it exists, while the remaining 93% answered that it does not. Conclusion: After analyzing the questionnaire, it was possible to perceive that in most of the questioned characteristics, the perception is adequate with what is found in the literature. However, aspects such as how to diagnose autism and the main treatment need to be reviewed, so that they can be better able to identify a patient with the classic signs of ASD.