Estratégias para adaptação do ambiente autista durante pandemia covid-19: uma revisão integrativa da literatura

Abstract

The term autism conceptualizes childhood neurodevelopmental disorders that manifest themselves through deficits in the areas of language, social interaction and behavior. Often, characteristics such as speech delay, communication deficit, difficulty socializing, behavioral rigidity, low frustration tolerance, and low resilience to routine changes transform the autistic environment into a place that requires daily changes to facilitate the adaptation of this individual in society. In 2020, the world was faced with the new coronavirus pandemic. Suddenly, new rules and routines were imposed by government representatives, aiming to reduce the spread of this disease. In the world, a scenario with sudden deaths, personal suffering, social isolation, suspension of activities defined as non-essential, financial loss, and collective emotional instability became commonplace. For the autistic individual, who already needed daily adaptations in pre-pandemic times, this context generated a profound negative impact on his daily activities. In this scenario, family members and health professionals were driven to seek new adaptive strategies to help the autistic individual to overcome the demands arising from the pandemic of COVID-19. The present study aimed to review in the scientific literature the strategies that emerged to facilitate the adaptation of the individual with autistic spectrum disorder to the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic scenario. The search occurred in the SCOPUS AND PUBMED databases, with the keywords "Strategies", "ASD", "Autism", "COVID-19 Pandemic". Providing accurate and succinct information about the pandemic to autistic people, reorganizing their new routines, redirecting increased free time, adapting the home for educational/ physical/ leisure activities, providing therapeutic support for autistic people and family members were some strategies described as facilitators of the pandemic acceptance process by the autistic person. Continuous reflections on autism and its adaptive needs should be addressed in pandemic and non-pandemic periods in search of an inclusive and dignified life for all individuals immersed in the autistic environment.