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This article, Apraxia and autism spectrum disorder focuses on detailing apraxia symptomatology with the main elements of this pathology. In the first part of the article terminology is approached, distinguishing between apraxia and dyspraxia. In the second part of the article the main symptomatology apraxia features are discussed and afterward they are put in relation with the ASD. In order to be able to identify the best way to approach apraxia in ASD context three research questions are raised: In what degree does the combination between ASD and apraxia slow down speech and language development? Which are the most frequent speech and language difficulties and causes which lead to the association of ASD with apraxia? Which are the most efficient intervention programs in the context of ASD associated with apraxia? To these three research questions answers are found by a deep and thorough theoretical investigation of the main studies and research in this field, results being discussed from the point of view of the way speech and language therapy field in Romania can approach apraxia in ASD contex.

This article describes a research study developed during the webinar organized in order to celebrate 6 th of March as European Day of Speech & Language Therapy. In this research participated Romanian SLTs (N=150). The research was based on the following objectives: to identify the typology of the present used resources in the Romanian SLT field; to implement the Padlet as a tool for collecting and sharing data and to identify the area of resources that has to be developed. Results demonstrated that SLTs mainly use virtual resources (VR=106) in their present work and that material resources that can be used online is the less detailed and mentioned category (MRV=17). The third category of resources is the category of material resources (MR), those that are to be used mainly during face-to-face SLT therapy. This category is represented by a relatively low number of units, compared with VR (MR=61). Regarding the use of Padlet, we consider that this focused-group based research was enhanced with success, participants in the research, even if they were a numerous group, and the research was developed online, had the chance to express their points of view, without difficulties.

"Autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) depict a large class of conditions that manifest in a variety of displays and particularities. The number and type of symptoms can differ drastically from one person to another and array from mild to severe. Symptoms fall into a range of categories; dysfunctions in perceptual and sensory processing are present with impact in communication, in neurological functioning outcomes and in various functional behavior limitations (Pfeiffer et al., 2005). In school settings and in everyday life the sensory processing and integration of the stimuli may impact the acquisition of new information and sometime, in particular situation the educational process itself. Sensory information and atypical behavioral responses are common to people with this diagnostic, with over 96% of children with ASD having hyper or hyposensitivity in several areas. Particular processing of sensory stimuli can cause aggressive and self-harming behavior, especially for those who are non-verbal and cannot communicate their difficulties in an adequate and functional manner. Among the most affected senses are the proximal senses, such as taste, smell, and touch, but new studies report that disruption of auditory and visual processing pathways is becoming more common (Marco, E J et al, 2011). Due to these particular hypersensitivities daily activities are disturbed. This is a factor that limits the participation of these individuals in certain events and activities, and in school itself. Most preschoolers had difficulty with sensory processing, which was associated with behavioral changes such as irritability, lethargy, or hyperactivity. In thisresearch we evaluated the sensory processing difficultieslayered by age and interaction plans: tactile, vestibular, proprioception, auditory, olfactive, taste and visual. The participants (N= 43) report data for themself (N=9), for babies(N=5), for kindergarten age (N=15) and for school age (N=14). Preliminary data indicate for tactile sensory processing the M= 1.9, for auditory sensory processing the M= 2.49, for vestibular sensory processing the M= 2.1, for proprioception sensory processing the M= 1.72, for visual sensory processing the M= 2.07, for taste sensory processing the M= 1.74, for olfactive sensory processing the M= 1.97. The most reported disturbance on sensory processing was on the auditory, vestibular and visual part. The affected sensory processing area interferes with the educational process that is based mainly on auditory, visual and vestibular. These preliminary results are in concordance with others reports from literature and could explain the hypersensitivity for auditory and visual stimulus and the odd behaviors displayed by ASD persons, like tiptoes walking. Further research and analysis will be developed in order to tailor these aspects of sensory processing in ADS, with impact on education and everyday living."

"The need for evidence-based therapy is a reality in contemporary therapeutic approaches. The most studied approach in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is the ABA therapy (Applied Behavioral Analysis), among other 27 validated programs Hume & al. (2021) and Steinbrenner & al. (2020). Even if ABA is well known and strongly scientifically studied, in almost 30% of the cases it does not lead to developing the desired verbal communication abilities ((National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, 2010; Kasari, Sturm, Shih, 2018). In this context, speech and language therapy can be an alternative to this approach, its use being combined with the usage of different other psychological and psycho-pedagogical techniques and programs for enhancing children and families with the target abilities. This mixture of therapies, known as eclectic approach is often compared with ABA approach and criticized due to its lack of scientific proof. In order to ensure the evidence based approach we propose the implementation of SMARTs (Sequential Multiple Assignment Randomized Trials-SMARTs). The SMARTs approach offers the possibility both to collect measurable data based on the established goals and to tailor possible intervention programs adjusting the approach to participants’ needs. In our research the SMARTs structure include: a sequence of decisions (it applies if participants do not respond positively to the intervention and it is used at each three months’ reevaluation stage), a set of intervention decisions (in this research SLT is combined with kineto-therapy, oral-motor myofunctional therapy, psych-pedagogical programs and programs for sensory integration), elements/factors that indicate change in the established approach (it refers to factors that prove that the intervention program needs to be changed, in our research these are: regression and a plateau in speech and language development acquisition longer than one month) and a sequence of decision rules able to link the other sequences (these decision rules are based on the evaluation and reevaluation results and on reaching or not the established goals in speech and language development area). Participants in the research are 9 children with severe ASD (N=9), with ages between 6-9 years’ old. The starting point of our SMARTs approach implementation was a comprehensive general assessment of speech and language development based on ISD (Integrated Scale of Development), MLU (Mean Length of Utterance) and SIR (Scale for Intelligibility Rate). The intervention period was January 2021-december 2021. Results demonstrated relevant gains in speech and language development of 6-9 months (based on ISD) and of 3 points based on SIR (from 2 level-just of words intelligible, till 5 level-all words intelligible). Very poor results were obtained at the MLU level, due to the fact that grammar approach is difficult to implement. In conclusion we can underline the fact that SMARTs can be a reliable way in individualizing and in collecting scientific proof about speech and language development in ASD context, based on eclectic intervention programs. Further research will be developed in order to tailor the morphological and syntactical aspect in speech and language development."