BACKGROUND: some autism patients need the support of alternative communication methods in order to interact and communicate in an efficient manner. The alternative and/or supplementary communication promotes communicative means through the integrated use of symbols, resources, strategies and techniques. PROCEDURES: the purpose of this study is to describe the effects of the simultaneous application of two alternative communication methods on autistic adults. This research is a longitudinal type case study of a 20 year old individual diagnosed with autism. The communicative resources used by the individual were evaluated by applying the child language pragmatic ABFW test, during nine months, by using the following alternative communication methods: PECS - Adapted and Signalized Speech. Data collected before and after applying the alternative communication resources methods were compared under qualitative and quantitative approaches. RESULTS: the collected data have shown an increase in the number of communicative acts and functions, as well as an increase in the communicative space occupied by the individual, after the procedures that were applied by using the alternative communication programs. CONCLUSION: as a conclusion we perceived the achievement of progress in the communication pragmatic profile by concomitantly using both alternative communication methods, once that the individual's social interactions increased.
Language; Language Arts; Language Disorders; Communications Aids for Disabled
