The purpose of this study was to describe the receptive abilities of a child with spastic diplegic cerebral palsy, born to Brazilian parents in Japan, thus exposed to both Portuguese and Japanese. Method: In order to assess receptive abilities, communication behavior was observed during communicative activities occurring with play materials, through application of semantic recognition tests (pictures from the ABFW) and auditory discrimination tests. During the proposed activities, Brazilian Portuguese and Japanese were used. A hearing assessment was also performed, consisting of acoustic immittance measures and pure tone audiometry. Results: the results of the hearing assessment were within normal standards. In the communicative activities, the child seemed to comprehend simple commands in daily contexts, with references present or absent, in both languages. Despite the severity of the neuromotor conditions the child presented, added to the fact that the child did not communicate orally, concept comprehension in both languages was considered satisfactory, showing that receptive abilities were preserved. Environmental experimentation and family stimulation furthered the development of receptive abilities. Conclusions: Despite the gravity of motor alterations, this child's intrinsic capabilities, her sensorial-perceptive potentiality and environmental stimulation enhanced her receptive performance of both the Portuguese and Japanese languages.
cerebral palsy; language; multilingualism; comprehension; language development in children; special education