Metonymic process of basic categorization by children and young people with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in the city of Piripiri-PI

Abstract

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a genetic neurobiological condition that tends to affect cognitive, behavioral, socio-interactional and sensitive aspects of learning, among others. This is why individuals with this condition are prone to develop learning disorders. Aware of this, we aim to investigate the metonymic processes of basic categorization in cases of Autistic Spectrum Disorder, articulating them with cognitive semantic principles, in order to ascertain the cognitive semantic capacity, how these individuals categorize each object and possible distinctions among results of the verbal and non-verbal questionnaires. Methodologically, consented audiovisual recordings were made, complying with the ethics committee of the State University of Piauí (CEP-UESPI), under CAAE 07453519.8.0000.5209. To meet the objectives, we articulated the theoretical and analytic framework of Cognitive Semantics, Cognitive Linguistics, ASD and learning disorders. The results show that the metonymic categorization process took place in a satisfactory way, even though it presented minimal flaws, either because of the spectrum manifestation levels or other interferences. In addition, the level of spectrum manifestation interfered in the process, given that the participants’ working memory processingspeed varied.