Speaker
Description
Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental condition characterized by difficulties in social interaction, communication, and restricted and repetitive behavior patterns. In Brazil, according to the Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística (IBGE, 2022), approximately 2.4 million individuals have been diagnosed, and this number may reach six million when unidentified cases are considered. This study is a continuation of an investigation published in 2025, in which behavioral improvements resulting from therapeutic interactions were previously demonstrated. In this new phase, an age-stratified analysis was incorporated to examine differences in the pace and magnitude of therapeutic evolution. This approach makes it possible to investigate the impact of early intervention by comparing progress across different age groups and contributes to the understanding of periods of greater neural plasticity. The main objective was to statistically quantify the effects of specific therapeutic interventions on the development of children with ASD. The sample was selected using Respondent-Driven Sampling (RDS), a technique suitable for hard-to-reach populations that increases representativeness and reduces selection bias. Behavioral information was provided by legal guardians through a questionnaire composed of 16 evaluative items on an ordinal scale from 0 to 3, applied at two time points: pre- and post-intervention. Given that the responses were categorical and dependent, McNemar’s test was used to identify significant changes in behavioral patterns. In addition, a Net Promoter Score (NPS) assessment was conducted to measure the perceived level of satisfaction among legal guardians and therapists, providing complementary insight into the perceived impact of the interventions. The results showed statistically significant improvements in several behavioral domains, confirming the effectiveness of the therapeutic practices applied, with indications of greater progress among younger age groups. These findings reinforce the importance of public policies that expand access to evidence-based therapies, especially when initiated early, and highlight the value of robust statistical analyses for measuring clinical outcomes.
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