Desarrollo cognitivo y habilidades sociales en un estudiante con autismo

Abstract

Nowadays it is very common to find a great number of students with Special Educational Needs (SEN) within the school context and those with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) fall into this category; the main disadvantages they present are due to difficulties in their cognitive development as well as their social skills. People with ASD suffer from alterations in brain functions such as intelligence, language, and social skills, which are important for optimal development. The present case study aims to characterize the level of cognitive development and social skills present in a 15-year-old student with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). In addition, a systematic and heterogeneous review has been carried out in different data sources, such as SciELO, Dialnet, Redalyc, and repositories. The problem is focused on the Unidad Educativa Fiscal Alférez de Fragata Víctor Naranjo Fiallo located in the city of Machala in the parish of Puerto Bolívar, a case of a 15-year-old student with Autism has been evidenced, currently, the student is in the 9th year of Basic Education where there are difficulties in cognitive development and social skills so teachers have chosen to apply curricular adaptations to meet their needs. For this reason, the following question has been posed: What is the level of cognitive development and social skills present in a student with ASD? to solve the problem. To address the existing problem, different techniques and instruments have been used, which facilitate the collection of data and characteristics present in the object of study, which will allow achieving the objective set out in the research: The observation guide, which facilitates the observation of relevant characteristics for the detection of deficiencies in social skills; the semi-structured interview, which allows gathering information on the areas where the greatest difficulties are present through a reciprocal dialogue; Goodenough Test, a projective instrument that allows evaluating and interpreting the features of psychological and cognitive development; Brief Neuropsychological Evaluation in Spanish (NEUROPSI), a scale that provides information on the skills about aspects of intellectual maturity in certain cognitive areas. The approach used in the present research is qualitative, which allows to explain, analyze and interpret in-depth the studied phenomenon, facilitating its continuity, jointly the scope of the work is descriptive since this scope has as a priority the description of a fact of study; in addition, it seeks to detail the factors that affect and explain how this is manifested. As result, it was obtained that the 15-year-old student with autism spectrum disorder presents significant affectations in terms of cognitive development, which has a notable impact on all activities of daily life. Cognitive impairment is more evident in the academic area since he shows limitations such as lack of understanding of the guidelines given by teachers and in turn in the understanding and interpretation of the contents in the subject of Language and Literature, due to the presence of a neurological disorder, which prevents the correct understanding of implicit concepts, verbal and nonverbal language, and grammatical rules, thus affecting the production of his ideas. In conjunction with the above mentioned, it should be noted that the level of affectation of the development of social skills present in the student with autism is considerable since it expresses characteristics that prevent assertive development and limits their interpersonal skills, as well as affecting their ability to empathize with other people, modulate their own emotions and understand the feelings of others. Due to the lack of these skills, he tends to show disinterest when talking to others, whether this is in small or massive groups of people, however, when he manages to generate an affective bond, he manages to maintain reciprocity when talking to someone else for a short time, without leaving aside the aforementioned limitations.