Interações sociomusicais em crianças com autismo e ecolalia: um estudo multicaso a partir de cantos fragmentados e repetitivos

Abstract

This master's thesis was inspired by technical and scientific concerns, common to music education and music therapy, which resulted in a multi-case, qualitative study on a musical phenomenon, here called: fragmented and repetitive singing, perceived in children with autism and echolalia. Fragmented and repetitive singing is represented by repeating a short section of a song, spontaneously chosen by the child, repeatedly. This study set out to apply 08 music-based interventions, with 03 children within the aforementioned profile, using music education and music therapy techniques. In addition, the mothers took part in semi-structured interviews and the speech therapists filled in questionnaires, collecting information on the context in which the singing arose, management, types of echolalia, the potential for mitigation and sociomusical interaction based on the singing. The objectives of this resarch were to investigate the possibilities of sociomusical interaction based on theses songs, to analyze facilities and difficulties in recognizing the fragments sung repetitively and to observe the musical outcome based completness of the song, or lack of fluidity in the interaction. The respect for neurodiversity and the sensitivity established in the dialectic: researcher-child, helped in the construction of music-based interventions, aligned with the unique musical and non-musical aspects of each child, offering a spectrum of possibilities for intra- and inter-musical relationships. The discussions on the diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder - ASD, presented in this research, were intended both to guide more appropriate strategies for music-based interventions, following the demands and potential of each child, and to elucidate its important role in medical, therapeutic and pedagogical guidelines, validating the efforts of parents in choosing assertive paths of stimulation for their children's development. This study presents factors of relevance to the scientific, professional and family environments, adding information about the unique musical characteristics of the profile of the children described, their management and interaction potential. For the autistic community, representing the neurodivergent minority, the aim is to validate this type of singing as a musical language, including it in the repertoire of cognitive and psychosocial development.