O conceito de Morte e a síndrome de Asperger / The Concept of Death and Aspergers Disorder
AUTOR(ES)
Letícia Calmon Drumond Amorim
DATA DE PUBLICAÇÃO
2008
RESUMO
Aspergers Disorder, a Pervasive Development Disorder, is part of the autism spectrum and is characterized by difficulties in communication, abstraction, and social interaction. The concept of death is acquired in parallel with cognitive and affective development of children, and three stages in its development are described in parallel with piagetian stages. It is made up of the dimensions of universality, irreversibility, and non-functionality. The objective of this work is to verify if the concept of death in people with Aspergers disorder is similar to the one observed in people without psychopathological symptoms , or if it relates to the one observed in people with mild mental retardation. With that purpose, individuals with Aspergers disorder, individuals with mild mental retardation and healthy individuals, without mental and/or neurologic diseases were evaluated by means of the Instrument of Investigation of the Concept of Death developed by Wilma Torres. The results indicated damage in the acquisition of the concept of death according to the following hierarchy, in the universality and non-functionality dimmensions: Healthy >Aspergers disorder >mild mental retardation. In the irreversibility dimension, the hierarchy found was healthy >Aspergers disorder= mild mental retardation. These results indicate deficit in the acquisition of the concept of death by individuals with Aspergers disorder, possibly related to deficits in the theory of mind, executive function, and weak central coherence.
ASSUNTO(S)
morte autism distúrbios globais do desenvolvimento síndrome de asperger concept formation death e dying aspergers syndrome autismo pervasive development disorders formação do conceito
