Contação de história apoiada pela comunicação alternativa: efeitos da autoscopia na formação docente

Abstract

In recent years, the number of students with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) has grown substantially in regular classes. Despite the increasing presence of this population in schools, research suggests that education professionals have difficulty dealing with students with ASD, mainly due to the sociocommunicative limitations they present. About one-third of these students cannot communicate through speech, making the use of Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) resources essential. In a preschool context, AAC has been adopted in diverse routines, including storytelling activities. Studies suggest that many teachers are unaware of or do not feel prepared to use AAC in such activities. Thus, research highlights the importance of teacher training for the inclusion of students with ASD. One of the growing practices adopted in professional training programs is autoscopia, a self-confrontation procedure aimed at developing reflective teachers. Based on this scenario, the general objective of the present study was to analyze the effects of the autoscopia procedure on the use of AAC in storytelling by teachers of students with ASD. The participants included one teacher and 14 children from a preschool class (level III), among them 3 children with ASD. Four accessible books in AAC were produced for the research, which was conducted at a Municipal Center for Early Childhood Education (CMEI) in the city of Natal. The verbal reports of the teacher and the researcher, recorded during the autoscopia sessions, were analyzed based on Content Analysis. Three categories of analysis were produced for the teacher, including task organization, resources, strategies, self-assessment, and teacher participation in the autoscopia process. In the researcher’s speeches, four categories were considered: resources, strategies, participation of children with ASD, and evaluation of the teacher's practice. The effects of autoscopia on teaching practice were analyzed through a quasi-experimental intrasubject design and evaluated using Non-overlapping Data Percentage (PND). The results revealed that the intervention impacted teaching practices in different ways. A significant increase was observed in the frequency of verbal questions about the story, questions and comments using symbols, as well as the use of closed questions. Despite providing symbols to the students more frequently, the teacher used them little to tell the stories or make verbal comments about the narrative. Observational records indicated that changes in the teacher's behavior favored greater participation of children with ASD in storytelling.