PURPOSE: to evaluate the verbal and non-verbal communicative abilities in autist children. METHODS: six children was selected with the diagnostic of language delay secondary to autism, submitted to speech therapy in a school-clinic of a University private from Recife. The children were monitored in therapy sessions, and these was stored in VHS tape for posterior analysis and discussion. The analysis was based on the use of ABFW observation protocol, which analyses the communicative means and functions. RESULTS: among the acts, the gestures appeared with major predominance among the analyzed subjects. Regarding the communicative functions, we observed with major predominance: non-focused, protest, explorer and reactive. CONCLUSION: It was possible to verify that the studied children used functional communication forms in different situational contexts, verbal and non-verbal skills, aspects considered essential to the proposition of resources in speech therapy intervention.
Language; Autistic Disorder; Speech Therapy
