PURPOSE: To determine the association between the initial suspicion of hearing loss and the absence of verbal communication in children with diagnosis of autistic spectrum disorders. METHODS: A retrospective study was carried out analyzing 54 anamneses of individuals with diagnosis of autistic spectrum disorders. From each case history, it was obtained the records of the initial suspicion of hearing loss, mentioned by family members. The degree of association between the initial suspicion of hearing loss and the type of communicative performance (verbal and non-verbal) was verified. After that, hearing assessments were tracked down to confirm the pertinence of the hearing complaint mentioned. The data were statistically analysed using Chi-Square Test and Fisher's Exact Test. A significance level of 0.05 was adopted. RESULTS: It was verified that 62.96% of the parents of children with autism (both verbal and non-verbal) exhibited an initial suspicion of hearing loss as the first etiology. The hearing assessment demonstrated that only 11.11% of the individuals with non-verbal communication and none of those with verbal communication actually had some type of hearing impairment. CONCLUSIONS: The number of children with initial suspicion of hearing loss was significant, regardless whether these individuals had verbal or non-verbal communication. However, in the association analysis between communicative performance and suspicion of hearing impairments, the results were significantly greater for non-verbal children. This fact leads to a reflection on the importance of sensitization of the professionals who act in childcare clinic regarding the search for a differential diagnosis between hearing impairment and autistic spectrum disorders.
Hearing loss; Autistic disorders; Chid language; Verbal behavior; Language disorders
