STATE OF RIO DE JANEIRO

MUNICIPALITY OF SÃO PEDRO DA ALDEIA

MUNICIPAL SECRETARIAT OF EDUCATION
Undersecretary of Education
DIRECTORATE OF INCLUSIVE EDUCATION AND EDUCATIONAL GUIDANCE

GLOBAL DEVELOPMENT DISORDERS

1 - CONCEPTS

Global Development Disorders - GDD - represent a category in which

Disorders that share affected developmental functions are grouped together.
Meanwhile, this concept is recent and can only be proposed due to methodological advances of
studies and the overcoming of the first explanatory models of autism.
The concept of Global Developmental Disorders emerged in the late 1960s, derived from
especially the work of M. Rutter and D. Cohen. He translates the understanding of autism as
a developmental disorder.
Autism is explained and described as a set of qualitative disorders of functions.
involved in human development. This explanatory model allowed autism to not be
but classified as childhood psychosis, a term that brought stigma to families and to the
own children with autism. Furthermore, the model allows for an appropriate understanding of
other manifestations of disorders of these developmental functions that, although present
similarities constitute different diagnostic frames.
The understanding of disorders classified as PDD, based on the functions involved in
development, points to perspectives of approach, both clinical and educational, quite
innovative, in addition to contributing to the understanding of these functions in the development of all
children.
The Global Developmental Disorder is not just about autism. Under this
classification describes different disorders that have in common the functions of
qualitatively affected developments. They are:
Autism;
Asperger syndrome;
Global Development Disorder unspecified;
Rett syndrome;
Childhood Disintegrative Disorder (Childhood Psychosis).

Based on the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV),

we prepared the following synthesis.

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD): It encompasses different syndromes marked by

neurological developmental disorders with three fundamental characteristics, which can
manifest itself together or individually. They are: communication difficulties due to deficiency
in the domain of language and the use of imagination to deal with symbolic games, difficulty
of socialization and restrictive and repetitive behavior patterns.
According to the clinical picture, ASD can be classified into:
Autism;
Asperger syndrome
Global Developmental Disorder unspecificed.

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 AUTISM:
Important for the
Main characteristics Age of manifestation
differential diagnosis
Harm in development before 3 years of age Harm in functioning or
social interaction and communication. age. delays in at least 1 of the 3
There may be a delay or absence of the areas:
language development. Social interaction;
In those who have it, there may be Language for communication
stereotyped and repetitive use or a social
idiosyncratic language. Games symbolic you
Restricted repertoire of interests and imaginative.
activities.
Interest in routines and rituals not
functional.

ASPERGER SYNDROME:
Important for the
Main characteristics Age of manifestation
differential diagnosis
Persistent impairment in interaction Begins later Unlike Autism,
social. that autism may or may not have delays
Development of patterns perceived later clinically significant in
restricted e repetitive of (between 3 and 5 years). cognitive development, in the
behavior interests Motor delays or lack of language in skills
activities. age-appropriate motor skills self-help
can be perceived in adaptive behavior,
before the age of 6. except for social interaction,
and in curiosity about the environment
in childhood.

DISORDER GLOBAL DO DEVELOPMENT SEM ANOTHER

SPECIFICATION:
Important for the
Main characteristics Age of manifestation
differential diagnosis
There is severe damage in the When such
development of social interaction characteristics are present,
reciprocal or of skills of but they are not satisfied
verbal and non-verbal communication or diagnostic criteria for a
behaviors, interests e Disorder Global do
stereotyped activities. Development or for
other diagnostic frameworks
how Schizophrenia
Personality Disorder
Schizotypal or Disorder
of Avoidant Personality.

Rett syndrome is a neurological disease caused by a genetic mutation that

it mainly affects female children. It is characterized by the progressive loss of
neurological and motor functions after months of apparently normal development - in general,
up to 18 months of life. After this period, the speaking skills, walking ability, and control
the use of hands begins to regress, being replaced by stereotyped movements,
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involuntary or repetitive. Learned words are also forgotten, leading to an increasing
interruption of social contact. Communication for these girls gradually occurs only through
look.

Important for the

Main features Age of manifestation
differential diagnosis
Development of multiple First manifestations Presence of convulsive crises.
specific deficits after a period following the first 6 to 12 Decrease in growth
of normal functioning in the months of life. of head circumference.
first months of life. Functional losses of
Deceleration of the growth of development of the 6
head circumference. months to the first
Loss of voluntary skills, years of life.
of the hands acquired earlier, and
posterior development of
movements stereotyped
similar to washing or twisting the
hands.
Social interest decreases after the
first years of manifestation of
framework, although it can develop
later.
Severe impairment of development
yes language expressive or
receptive.

Childhood Disintegrative Disorder or Childhood Psychosis: it is a disorder of

dependent personality influenced by the organization of the self and the child's relationship with the environment
environment. Characteristics of childhood psychosis are listed such as: (1) difficulty in distancing oneself
from the mother; (2) difficulty in understanding what is seen, gestures and language; (3) changes
significant changes in the form or content of the speech, immediately repeating words and/or phrases
heard (echolalic speech), or stereotyped and idiosyncratic use of verbal forms, being
common to pronominal inversion (the child refers to herself using the third person of
singular or of your own name); (4) marked changes regarding height, rhythm, and modulation of
talks about special skills and awkward social conduct.

Important for the

Main characteristics Age of manifestation
differential diagnosis
Pronounced regression in multiples After 2 years and before The disorder does not improve
areas of functioning, after 10 years of age. explained by Autism or
normal development constituted Schizophrenia.
of verbal and non-verbal communication, Excluded disorders
social relationships, games and metabolic e conditions
behavior adaptive neurological.
appropriate for the age. Very rare and much less
As losses clinically more common than Autism.
significant skills already
acquired in at least two
areas: expressive language or
receptive, social skills or
adaptive behavior, control
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 intestinal or vesical, games or
motor skills.
They present social deficits and
communicative e aspects
behavioral generally
observed in Autism.

2 - THE TRAINING AND LEARNING OF THE CHILD WITH GLOBAL DISORDER

OF DEVELOPMENT

It is common for these children to show manifestations of their inflexibility in a manner

exacerbated. If we use the theoretical subsidies worked on earlier in this text, it is easy
understand that, in the school environment, with all its stimuli and seeing oneself among many
other children, to so many speeches and attitudes of other people that, by the way, are not familiar to them, the
child reacts like this.
These reactions, repeatedly, can be of intense crying, of bodily movements
repetitive, indifferent to pleas and attempts at help, attached to certain
fixed locations at school and refusal to move as instructed. We have also observed, in
more complex cases, self-harm or abrupt reactions involving objects or even some
another person.
The occurrence of such manifestations should not be interpreted as the permanent state of
child or what its future consists of. In fact, it is about expected reactions to a
important change in your routine. School, at that moment, is an unknown experience and
of difficult appropriation of meaning and purpose by the child.
For teachers, experiencing these initial moments can be paralyzing.
loaded with feelings of helplessness, anguish, and generating false convictions about the
impossibility that the school and the knowledge/skills of the teachers can contribute to the
development of that child.
Through initial difficulties, schools resort to all kinds of attempts at welcoming.
to the student. This is an absolutely understandable attitude, although some are important.
care. If we can shift our attention away from the child's stereotypies and reactions and focus on...
projecting to a future daily life, it is possible to "take care" of some issues.
Considering the theoretical subsidies already provided in this text, we understand that such
initial difficulties occur due to this child's mental inflexibility. It is due to the lack of
flexibility that the experience of being in school is not easily defined, representing
initially just the loss of the daily routine, which allowed this child not to become disorganized.
We should remember that attachment to routines and rituals is a common characteristic of children with
TGD.
What is important then in these first days? It is important to understand that the first
manifestations correspond to those described above, common to other children, enhanced
due to the inflexibility arising from the TGD. Thus, in the course of the first days, it is essential to have
In mind that the school experience needs to enter, as soon as possible, into a more predictable terrain.
for that child. This must be done, of course, without taking away the naturalness of the school environment,
but keeping in mind that the same inflexibility that makes the first experiences so difficult
in this environment they may also foster attachment to situations that could later become
to make undesirable.
In other words, it is important, in the attempt to welcome that child, not
provide her with experiences that will not be part of her routine in the future. Inflexibility and attachment
the routines may lead the child to establish inappropriate routines within the school, which
will cause difficulties later for the professionals and for the child themselves when they are
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reformulated. Examples of this include individual reception with access to toys that is not
given to other children, reduced hours for gradual adaptation, separate stay from
class in spaces like the coordination or school management room, meals at a different time
of the remaining class, etc.
The school routine has rituals that are repeated daily. The organization of the entrance of the
students, the movement in various spaces, the routines in the classroom, the recess, of the
organization of the class for the offer of snacks, classes in differentiated spaces in the school, of
exit at the end of classes and others are examples of rituals that repeat and that favor the
appropriation of the school experience for the child with PDD.
These school rituals provide all children with the development of aspects
useful cognitive skills for social living, involving anticipation, postponement of immediate action, among others
others. The difference is that the need for explicit exercise of teaching and learning
undertaken with the child with PDD, in such situations, makes this process visible.
The great value of these rituals already inherent to the school for the child with ASD is the fact that
happen for all students and are not artificial or prepared exclusively for the child
with TGD, as they constitute rules for the organization of a real and, therefore, diverse social environment.
learning derived from real situations is of real utility for the child, that is, capable of being
used in other contexts, different from that arising from artificial situations.
The sooner the child with PDD can anticipate what happens daily at school,
the school experience will become more familiar and recognizable for her, making the
first manifestations of the child progressively less frequent. Considering that the
the ability to anticipate is a function that is impaired for those who exhibit
TGD consists of facilitating familiarity with the school environment through this anticipation,
help from another person.
Due to anticipation made by another person, we refer to the need for the
the child should be informed beforehand, in a simple and objective manner, about what will happen in the
next moment. This may seem not to work for a while, as the child may appear
not paying attention or not understanding, when it does not change your attitudes in light of this anticipation.
The important thing is to make anticipation a routine and not give up on the child's expectation of participation.
As a result of anticipation, more and more each day, the child's daily contact with the school environment and
with their rituals, which repeat, are making everyday life more predictable and your behavior
it may be transforming.
As time goes by, the school may dispense with such anticipation in situations that arise.
they are repeated daily, allowing to verify that a precious progress has been achieved in everyday life
of that child.
The interventions of colleagues consist of an important transformative strategy of patterns of
behavior of a child with PDD. The involvement of the child with PDD by peers
often provides interventions that come from them spontaneously, in an attempt to that
that child participates in the routine like them. The intervention of peers occurs when they
they recognize the school's expectation that the child with ASD will be able to behave better.
the effect of this peer intervention on the adherence of the child with PDD to these rituals is more
more often effective than that which comes from adults.

3 - WORK IN THE CLASSROOM

Among the students who arrive at schools with a diagnosis of Autism Spectrum are,
not infrequently, children who respond very quickly to interventions in the classroom,
quickly adhering to school tasks and showing, over time, a performance
quite significant in the activities and assessments carried out at the school. In this case, they tend to be
children with Asperger's Disorder, high-functioning Autism, among others. In
meanwhile, even with such characteristics of involvement in school activities, they may be
presents manifestations such as: little social sharing and/or limited interest; agendas
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stereotyped, repetitive and/or poorly contextualized; little interest in responding to requests
in the classroom, although able to do so, among others.
Students with such characteristics require the school's attention for development
important competencies. But it is common that, depending on the academic performance presented
for them, the teachers do not pay due attention to the skills that are yet to be addressed
developed, sometimes even reinforcing the damages in the area of social sharing or of
communication. This occurs when the student, by preferring computer science to the company of colleagues, is
given access to the computer in isolation and in place of moments of social interaction,
like recess. And also, even more, when it is allowed for the meal to be taken separately
two colleagues and that the student remains in differentiated activities from the class, in time and space
different from the others.
The previous observations do not intend to disqualify the initiatives to offer and guarantee to
student the access to their interests. On the contrary, we understand that for students with ASD,
as well as for others, interests must be the subject of the proposed activities. Only
we draw attention here to the fact that these initiatives cannot be restricted to the student with
TGD, preventing, among other things, this student from occupying an 'autistic' place in school.
it is important to provide opportunities for situations of interest combined with the involvement of other students,
proposing activities in which the student with ASD needs to engage in interaction and exchange with someone
colleague, avoiding reinforcing the damages in the area of social sharing and providing opportunities for the
necessary challenges for the development of skills in this field.
Following the same line of reasoning, we can reflect on the work in the classroom with
the student with PDD who presents significant communication impairments (absence of communication and
language), social sharing, and mental flexibility. If the child exhibits these
Characteristics, it will be necessary for the pedagogical interventions to be initially based on the aspects of
teaching and learning relevant to the field of cognitive development related to
familiarization with the environment, to better mastery of the school routine, to the establishment of
links and strategies of communication/anticipation and giving meaning to the experience in the environment
school social. It is necessary for the child to gradually be able to anticipate the school routine, while at the same
time in which you enhance your mental flexibility in the face of unforeseen events at school.
During this initial period, the school professionals need to seek a balance between
strategies for accommodating the needs of this student and providing the experience of daily school life,
without making significant changes that could delay the achievement of these skills by
child.
It is common for basic aspects such as staying in the classroom, participating in the meal with
the colleagues, to feed themselves with autonomy, to express their desires and needs, to demonstrate
initiative to adhere to school rituals (entry line, follow the class to the classroom...)
they are not easily exercised from the first days by the student. Such aspects constitute the
first steps of this child's development at school and are, in most cases,
conquered with much effort and overcoming by the child and their peers and teachers.
These are not insignificant achievements, as there are reports of families in which, starting from this
development in school, the child was able to generalize these learnings, starting to
participating in social situations with family, friends, and neighbors, demonstrating significant progress
in behavior and interaction.
It constitutes a facilitating factor for the development of attitudes within the classroom, aiming at
to start formal pedagogical interventions, to offer the child with ASD references of conduct and
participation through its peers. Therefore, it is important to carry out activities in pairs.
or in a group. Additionally, the arrangement of desks in such a way that allows the child with ASD
observing your peers is more effective than arranging the class in rows. When the activity
Thus, it is important for the child to be positioned in a more central location among peers.
allowing you to see the colleagues beside and in front.
During classroom activities, the attitude of addressing the student verbally is
fundamental, both for the child with autism and for the other children to be able to identify
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as a colleague, from whom the same behaviors are expected. This identification promotes the
spontaneous development of interventions by colleagues, very effective for referencing
the child with PDD in their behavior within the school.
The strategies suggested in the communication item can be used for the
development of work in the classroom, making the necessary adjustments to the objectives of this
space and the topic in question. One must pay attention to the progressive acquisition of mental flexibility
from the child with PDD, in order to guide us in the flexibility of strategies and
opportunities to offer new cognitive challenges, and not incurring the risk of holding the child back
in its development.
The time required for the student with PDD to start providing responses to the investment
The pedagogical approach in the classroom varies greatly from child to child. The conditions are also variable.
of involvement and execution in school tasks at every moment of schooling. On the other hand,
surprising answers may occur, demonstrating knowledge acquisitions on his part
a student that the school had until then not known.

4 – ASPECTS IMPORTANT TWO DISORDERS GLOBAL DO

DEVELOPMENT FOR SCHOOL EDUCATION

4.1 - EXECUTIVE FUNCTION

By Executive Function, we can understand the set of thought behaviors that

allows the use of appropriate strategies to achieve a goal. It is "a set of
functions responsible for initiating and developing an activity with a determined final objective
(FUSTER, 1997).
This function is related to the ability to anticipate, plan, control impulses, inhibit.
inappropriate responses, flexible thinking and action. All of these capabilities are fundamental and
are in use whenever it is necessary to act in the face of problem situations, new situations, in the
conducting social relations, in achieving goals or in meeting needs and achieving
purposes, in different contexts, whenever there is an intention, a goal or a
need to be met.
The Executive Function is what allows, for example, to flexibly adjust behavior models.
acquired through experience, to adapt to the existing variations in present situations.
Allow us to synchronize our actions based on our intentions, considering
new aspects of each moment and situation.
We use our capabilities related to this function in the simplest situations, such as,
for example, so that we can obtain a glass of water in different contexts. This function allows us
allows us not to behave in a formal environment, in a doctor's office, in a bank
or in a work meeting, using the same strategies we use at home to kill
the seat. Our conduct for this purpose will be different in each situation, and the urge to simply
Taking the glass of water for oneself should be inhibited or postponed, depending on the demands of the environment.
The same abilities are also involved when we adapt our issues and
ways in different social situations. We adjust our choice of subjects, words,
attitudes, as well as we postpone or fail to respond to impulses to achieve a social end, such as,
for example, being well accepted or winning someone's friendship.
To play with both given examples, we can say that the Function is present.
Executive, if we inhibit the impulse to serve ourselves water, without it being offered to us, to
we seem quite polite in front of a person with whom we intend to get closer.
We could also say that such a function is present if we take advantage of the moment when the
the person we want to approach serves themselves water to start a conversation by asking
so that we use the same water, even if we are not thirsty.

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 In the learning process, we systematically use the Executive Function, as it is necessary.
it is necessary to use the information and procedures already learned, adapting them to new situations
will be resolved.
It is now clear that the Executive Function is a characteristic of the functioning of the lobes.
frontals.
Some characteristics of Global Developmental Disorders, present in a way
most typical in Autism, are similar to the deficits in executive function present in people who
they have lesions of the frontal lobes.
The similar aspects are: anxiety in the face of small changes in the environment, insistence.
in details of the routine, stereotyped and repetitive behaviors, interest focused on details or parts
of information in a persistent manner, difficulty in perceiving the whole and integrating aspects
isolated.
There is sufficiently consistent evidence to suppose deficits in Executive Function in
people with autism.
According to Goldman - Rakic (1987), the prefrontal functions (frontal lobes and cortical regions
Prefrontal areas are involved in both cognitive and socio-emotional functioning.
The frontal lobes have several functions: the planning of speech, motor acts, of
body movements, control of mood, impulses, situations that involve relationships
with the environment and the other functions of relational life. They enable intentionality, the
planning and the organization of conduct.
Perhaps the most important thing for us educators is the perspective of understanding the
manifestations of children with autism through Executive Function. This is because, in
the development of all the children we receive at school, such function is implied, already
that the learning to be developed there is largely based on its use. On the other hand,
since our role, with all the children, as teachers, is implicated in the
improvement and expansion of the possibilities of using this function, this understanding is the interface
which allows identifying possibilities of action with our students with PDD.
What Kanner and Eisenberg referred to as insistence on invariance, that is, that people
with autism insist on the same routine and react to changes, it would correspond to the concept
neuropsychological of Executive Function. The understanding that autism implies a disorder of
Executive Function is, currently, one of the central ideas of investigations. It does not mean a
simple exchange of terms, but it involves much more precise concepts than those used by
Kanner and Eisenberg. Executive Function consists of an appropriate disposition in order to
achieving a goal. This disposition may involve one or several aspects:
The intention to avoid or postpone a response (inhibition of the impulse to act immediately)
about a situation);
A strategic plan of sequenced actions;
A mental representation of the task.
In Executive Function, therefore, strategic flexibility is involved. This is the hallmark.
the fundamental functioning of the frontal lobe so developed in humans, due to the need for
strategies of a propositional nature and directed towards the future.
Strategic flexibility allows to postpone, inhibit, advance or retreat to achieve a
purpose. In tests with Executive Function tasks, autistics demonstrated a lot of
inflexibility. When these tests compared people with autism and with Disorder of
Asperger, the presence of inflexibility was evident in both, while tests involving
Theory of Mind tasks resulted in differences (the concept of Theory of Mind will be
developed ahead).
These tests led the authors to suppose that the Executive Function disorder may be
considered as being the primary disorder. The fundamental problem of autism would be the
inflexibility, with the rest being explainable from this problem. Thus, we can understand, by
Example, that the difficulties in the field of social relations arise from the fact that, in this
in the field, flexibility is more necessary than in any other mental domain.
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 Anticipation is an important function of the frontal lobes and is impaired in
people with PDD. This function may be altered at different levels among people with
Autistic spectrum and with PDD, but all have some impairment in anticipation. This impairment
it can manifest through rigid adherence to repeated stimuli, as in the reproduction of
same movie countless times, on the same route to school, in the permanence of objects in
environment, etc.
Stereotypes are an example of the manifestation of prejudice in flexibility. It is about
sensory-motor stereotypes: rocking the body, clapping, making and unmaking, sorting and
disorder. They are simple rituals. We can also find more elaborate rituals, such as attachment to
objects that are carried everywhere, strict control of environmental situations or of
routine and rigid perfectionism.
Another characteristic of the impairment in Executive Function presented by individuals on the Spectrum
Autism is the difficulty of making sense of events and activities. To make sense, it is necessary
to anticipate, to give purpose, and this is related to the purpose of something. In the manifestation of this harm,
we find people who predominantly engage in meaningless activities, without purpose,
without functionality. We also found those that can perform functional activities
simple and brief, and others that develop functional activities and with autonomy, but motivated
externally.
The characteristic of prejudice in social reciprocity, initially described as "extreme
"loneliness" can be explained by the mental inflexibility of people with autism, as a result of
of the impairment of Executive Function. Indifference in social relationships is related to the level of
demand for flexibility in this human field, making it the field of greatest impossibility for
some of these people. Social relationships require anticipation, meaning-making, and having
purposes. More than that, it involves the use of symbols, multiple meanings, and dealing with
unforeseen situations. This characteristic is also implicated in the Theory of Mind, which will be
explained below.

4.2 - THEORY OF MIND

The term Theory of Mind emerged in the late 1970s as a result of research in
area of animal cognition. Since that time, cognitive psychology has been concerned with
development of explanatory models for this term and its applications.
The Theory of Mind means the ability to attribute mental states to other people and
predict your behavior based on these attributes (PREMACK & WOODRUFF, 1978).
The term "Theory" arises from the fact that such states are not directly observable, requiring
a true 'theorization' of someone inferring a mental state in another individual.
The Theory of Mind is essential for humans, as it allows for the theorization of the state
the minds of other people, what they feel, what they think, what their intentions are and how they can
to act. This allows us to modulate our reactions and our social behavior, as well as to develop
our empathy in the face of inferred feelings in other people.
Baron - Cohen (1995) proposed a model to explain the mind-reading system. Such
the system postulates four mechanisms that interact to produce such reading: the detector of
intentionality, the gaze direction detector, the shared attention mechanism and the
mechanism of Theory of Mind.
The intention detection mechanism is a perceptual apparatus that interprets
mobile stimuli in terms of desires and goals. In parallel, the gaze direction detector is
responsible for detecting the presence and direction of gaze, as well as being in charge of
interpretation of the gaze of someone who is deliberately and consciously observing (this mechanism)
allows the following question: does she see that?). These two mechanisms send information to the
third mechanism (shared attention mechanism), which is responsible for creating relationships
between me, other agents, and objects (this mechanism raises the following question: I and you see the
the same thing?). Finally, the fourth mechanism (Theory of Mind mechanism) is responsible
9
through the union of the notions (previously separate) of attention, desire, intention, belief within a
a coherent theoretical apparatus for understanding behavior in mentalist terms, that is,
within a context of representations.
In children with autism, the mechanisms of shared attention and Theory of Mind
they would be harmed, which would cause losses in social relations and communication. Such
Losses occur because the deficit in Theory of Mind hinders the understanding of what
people think, feel and behave in a certain way. Unable to attribute these
meanings, the child with autism does not interact with the social environment in the same way as others
children.
The observations we made in the schools that received children and adolescents with autism
highlighted that, despite such loss, these students showed signs that the opportunity to
systematic exposure to the social environment, mediated by the school, allows for the development of some
competencies related to Theory of Mind.

4.3. THE DEVELOPMENT OF SOCIAL COGNITION IN STUDENTS WITH

GLOBAL DEVELOPMENT DISORDER IN SCHOOL

Social conduct is supported and elaborated by higher cognitive processes. They make up the
Social cognition is the understanding of one's own feelings and actions and their correspondence in
individuals of the same species, as well as the recognition of how other people feel.
Social Cognition began to be researched in the early 1970s. Lamb and Sherrod (1981)
they highlighted that Social Cognition is located at the intersection of several areas: perceptual, cognitive,
social, emotional and personality development.
During human development, from the first relationships with the first caregiver (in the
most of the time, the mother), up to those established in socially broader environments, within
and outside the family, the child accumulates social, emotional, and cognitive experiences that
will enable them to structure their social conduct in an increasingly complex way. Through these
through experiences, the child acquires the ability to identify and recognize social objects, to
to make inferences about the behaviors and emotions of other people, and to assign meaning
to social experiences.
The prefrontal cortex is directly involved in the development of Cognition.
Social and, therefore, in social conduct. The study of injured patients reveals that patients with
Prefrontal injury has difficulties in decision making and social reasoning.

According to Damasio (1994), [...] making decisions is choosing a

response option among the many possible in a given
moment and in a certain situation. Supposes to know: (1)
the situation that requires such a decision; (2) the distinct options for action;
the immediate or future consequences of each one of the
actions (BUTMAN & ALLEGRI, 2001, p. 276).

Social Cognition, Executive Function, and Theory of Mind are mutually related.
Social conduct presupposes anticipation, flexibility, allocation of meaning and objectives -
specific to Executive Function. Similarly, it is necessary to infer mental processes, thoughts,
intentions and emotions in other people, to sustain an effective social conduct, which is related
directly related to what we saw regarding Theory of Mind.
Once the concept of Social Cognition is defined, it is of fundamental importance for the
development of school work with children and adolescents with PDD understanding of
that the school is directly involved in the development of this mental function of all its
students.
Education, for decades, based its practices on a conception of intelligence, resulting in
of an incomplete understanding of human development. No matter how much, among the subsidies
theoretical frameworks used to understand and undertake the processes of teaching and learning,
10
there were those who pointed out other paths, such processes revealed a segmentation between
the emotional, social, and intellectual aspects of development.
As a consequence, the socializing aspects of the school environment have been relegated to the field.
recreational and spontaneous, not always mediated by the school or treated as objectives of
learning. Furthermore, the development of cognitive functions was not recognized in them,
that are inherent to them and are fundamental to underpin all teaching processes and
learning undertaken by the school. Proof of this is that, currently, we hear in a way
recurring among school professionals regarding students with disabilities, issues such as: "This
Is the student at school just to socialize?
Well, but nothing was developed cognitively!
In the development of most children and adolescents, the acquisition of skills
related to Social Cognition occurs without apparent difficulties and does not always become the subject of
reflection, mediation, and pedagogical intention. For children and adolescents with PDD, the losses
in acquiring these skills, they request recognition from the school of the cognitive dimension of
acquisition of social knowledge and the processes that sustain social conduct within the scope of action
school. We cannot fail to mention that such recognition will provoke interventions
educational methods that will promote the development of the Social Cognition of all students,
considering that, in many cases, the absence of difficulties is only apparent.
According to Forgas (2001 cited in RAMIRES, 2003, p.409), affection is not an incidental part, but
yes is an inseparable part of how we see and represent the world around us.

We agree with this author [Forgas] and also with Cicchetti.

e Pogge-Hesse (1981), when they warned that for the study of the
emotions are important for development theorists
assume some positions regarding the determination of
the role of the child in the construction of reality, in the sense of
consider it as an active builder or passive receiver of
environment and consider how the child represents information
what is captured in the environment. It is also necessary to specify the
role assigned to the environment in the process of
development. And, above all, it is important to take into account that
the relationship between cognition and emotion is crucial for the
understanding of development in general (RAMIRES, 2003,
p. 409).

The damages in the areas of social sharing, communication, and interests

presented by people with PDD can also be understood from the perspective of a
loss in Social Cognition.
The fact that Social Cognition is a process developed through attachment bonds,
the social experiences and exposure to the social environment and its signs makes school inclusion for
the student with PDD, a systematic opportunity to access the sources of acquisition of such a process.
Even though the disorder persists, the child or adolescent with PDD can expand their
possibilities of dealing with the social environment, with social signs and appropriating references from
behavior and interaction, once integrated into the regular school.
For a significant number of students with ASD, during a period of time, on the occasion of
Upon entering the school, efforts will be focused on the appropriation of social knowledge.
the school should mediate such appropriation, understanding that it is a necessary process for it to be
this child may later deal with the other pedagogical aspects.
Through the mediation of the school in the appropriation of social knowledge, we are referring to
one side, to the understanding of their teachers regarding the pedagogical role and the school character of this
appropriation, considering such a process as a goal of the school. On the other hand, we refer to the
creation of opportunities for the group of students, of which the child with ASD is part, to interact
with her and assume responsibilities, both inside and outside the classroom, in this child's adherence to the routine

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school, with the school attentive to provide the necessary guidance. In the observed schools,
we noticed a great willingness from colleagues to fulfill this role. In the case of the child
With TGD, peer mediation in this process is of fundamental importance for being more effective in
than the intervention of adults.
In the observed schools, the group of students was extremely available, being
I need, in one of them, the organization of schedules for rotation. It is important that the mediation
organized takes place during classes and that, during the recess, the group organizes itself in this.
mediation, allowing for the establishment of spontaneous and characteristic bonds of the age.

5 - The AEE and the Student with ASD

The appropriation of knowledge regarding ASD and the facilitating educational practices
development of the socio-cognitive skills of these students needs to occur both through
basic education professor as well as the AEE. However, it is necessary to understand that the
the development of these competencies takes place within the school environment with the class in which the
the student is included. The needs resulting from ADHD in the school daily life demand
absolutely articulated strategies with daily experience to promote learning and
they can be generalized by the student to other social and intervention environments.
The AEE teacher can contribute by guiding the school professionals in the preparation of the
strategies in everyday school life, in the development of resources and in the organization of routine, according to
with the peculiarities of each student and each school. Students with PDD should attend the
When specific educational needs requiring provision are identified
of this service, benefiting from the activities and pedagogical and accessibility resources,
made available in multifunctional resource rooms.

CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES
LOAD
description
SCHEDULE
REVIEW of the Movie: “My Son, My World”, available at
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4h
Delivery: On the day of Module 8.

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