Communication and autism spectrum disorders: review of knowledge of teachers in pre and post-intervention phases/Comunicacao e transtornos do espectro do autismo: analise do conhecimento de professores em fases pre e pos-intervencao

Purpose: to assess the knowledge of teachers in elementary education about the communication of people with autism spectrum disorders at two different times, pre and post-intervention. Methods: it was a comparative and descriptive study, involving 160 teachers from municipal elementary school of both genders, aged between 23 and 65. To check the teachers' knowledge of communication in autism spectrum disorders, a specific questionnaire for this study was developed and applied. It was offered to teachers and administered at two different times, pre and post-intervention. The intervention procedure consisted of two meetings of four hours each, conducted by speech therapist and the delivery of a guidance manual on the autism spectrum disorders, emphasizing the aspects of communication and language. The responses pre-and post-intervention were analyzed and compared. The results were treated statistically (p