Impacts of social distancing during the covid19 pandemic on the development of children with autism in Brazil

INTRODUCTION: COVID-19 is a respiratory disease and its main symptoms are fever, dry cough and difficulty breathing. It spread to several countries, which led the World Health Organization to decree, on March 11, 2020, a pandemic state that deeply affected Brazil. Due to the impossibility of leaving the house, the routine of children with autism was changed. Children in Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) have a qualitative deficit in social interaction. Clinical and daily observations reinforce several scientific studies that defend the importance of maintaining a routine as stable as possible for people with ASD, without this stability they may become emotionally disorganized, feel discomfort or even irritability. OBJECTIVES: Investigate the impact caused by social distancing on the development of children and adolescents with autism. METHODS: An online questionnaire based on the DIR/Floortime basic map of emotional functional capacity development was distributed in Brazil from April to May, 2020. The results were analyzed using SPSS software. RESULTS: Results obtained from 122 questionnaires showed that after 30 days of quarantine 20% of children no longer had the characteristic of being able to remain calm and organized for at least 2 minutes; 11% no longer initiates interactions with their parents; 27% demonstrated more protests and anger than before the social distancing; 18% demonstrated more emotions such as anger, fear and intimacy, 28% began to understand their limits and 12% of the children are using greater facial expression during the social distancing. CONCLUSIONS: This study brings results that can help to understand the processes in a child with autism.