Neverbalna pažnja kod dece sa autizmom

Osnovna psihička funkcija koja je preduslov za odvijanje svih svesnih mentalnih aktivnosti i koja je neophodna za usvajanje i ovladavanje tih akademskih znanja i veštinama jeste pažnja. Prema novijim teorijama o autizmu, kao najčešće teškoće kod dece sa autizmom ističu se teškoće kognitivnih sposobnosti, deficiti pažnje i egzakutivnih funkcija ali i teškoće socijalne prirode. Fenomen „lepljive pažnje” dovodi se u vezu sa repetitivnim i stereotipnim ponašanjem i neodazivanjem na ime kod dece sa autizmom. Teorija usmeravanja prema socijalnim informacijama govori o smanjenom usmeravanju prema socijalnim interakcijama iz kojih dete najviše uči. Važno mesto zauzima i uloga pažnje u održavanju budnosti organizma. Često se kod osoba sa autizmom uočava smanjena (hipo) ili povećana (hiper) budnost organizma. Ovo istraživanje sprovedeno je sa namerom da se utvrdi nivo neverbalne pažnje kod dece sa autizmom i dece tipičnog razvoja predškolskog i mlađeg školskog uzrasta. Za procenu neverbalne pažnje kao instrument koristili smo deo Protokola za procenu kognitivnih sposobnosti namenjen ispitivanju vizuelne i taktilno-kinestetske pažnje (zadatak Raspon boja, zadatke poništavanja i zadatak Raspon pokreta šake). Uzorak je činilo 60 dece mlađeg školskog uzrasta (predškolsko – IV razred), 30 dece sa atizmom, uzrasta od pet do 12 godina i 30 dece tipičnog razvoja, uzrasta od šest do 10 godina. U uzorku je zastupljeno 76,7% dečaka i 23,3% devojčica sa autizmom, kao i 46,7% dečaka i 53,3% devojčica tipičnog razvoja. Uzorak prema polu nije ujednačen. Za potrebe rada, uzorak smo podelili u dve uzrasne grupe: mlađu od pet do osam godina (50%) i stariju od osam do 12 godina (50%). U statističkoj obradi podataka korišćeni su χ2 test nezavisnosti, t-test nezavisnih uzoraka i jednofaktorska analiza varijansi (ANOVE). Rezultati su pokazali da deca sa autizmom imaju slabije skorove na zadacima neverbalne pažnje od dece tipičnog razvoja. U oba poduzorka pol igra značajnu ulogu kada je neverbalna pažnja u pitanju i to u korist devojčica. Takođe , neverbalna pažnja zavisi i od uzrasta. Ispitanici uzrasta od 8 do 12 godina imaju bolje skorove na zadacima neverbalne pažnje od ispitanika uzrasta od 5 do 8 godina, u oba poduzorka. Razred je još jedna varijabla od koje zavisi neverbalna pažnja. Najznačajnije razlike u oba poduzorka utvrili smo između predškolaca i učenika četvrtog razreda, tako da učenici četvrtog razreda imaju bolja postignuća u odnosu na predškolce.The basic psychic function that is a prerequisite for the development of all conscious mental activities and which is necessary for the adoption and mastering of academic knowledge and skills is the attention. According to recent theories of autism, the most common difficulties in children with autism are the difficulties of cognitive abilities, attention deficit and the deficit in execution functions, but also the difficulties of social nature. The phenomenon of "sticky attention" in children with autism is associated with repetitive and stereotypical behavior and not responding at being addressed by name. The theory of directing towards social information tells about a reduced orientation towards social interactions from which the child learns most. Attention plays an important role in maintaining the alertness of the organism as well. In people with autism a reduced (hypo) or increased (hyper) alertness of the organism is often noticed. This research was conducted with the aim of establishing non-verbal attention in children with autism and children of the typical development of pre-school and young school age. For the assessment of non-verbal attention as an instrument we used a part of the protocol for assessing cognitive abilities designed to test visual and tactile-kinesthetic attention (Color span task, Revocation tasks, and the Task of the hand movement span). The sample consisted of 60 children of the younger school age (preschool - 4th grade), 30 children with autism, ages 5 to 12 and 30 children of typical development, ages 6 to 10 years. The sample is comprised of 76.7% of boys and 23.3% of girls with autism, as well as 46.7% of boys and 53.3% of girls of typical development. The sample is not uniform regarding the gender. For the research requirements, we divided the sample into two age groups: younger, from 5 to 8 years (50%) and older, from 8 to 12 years (50%). Statistical data processing used χ2 independence test, t-test of independent samples and single-factor analysis of variance (ANOVA). The results showed that children with autism have lower scores on non-verbal attention tasks than children of typical development. In both sub-samples gender plays an important role when the non-verbal attention is in question and it is in favor of girls. Also, non-verbal attention depends on age. Respondents aged 8 to 12 have better scores on non-verbal attention tasks than those aged 5 to 8 years of age, in both sub-samples. The grade is another variable that non- verbal attention depends on. The most important differences in both sub-samples were found between preschoolers and students of the fourth grade, so that students of the fourth grade have better achievements than preschoolers