PROCEDURAL MEMORY AND VERBAL PRODUCTION IN CHILDREN WITH AUTISM: AN ‘UNCONVENTIONAL’ INTERVENTION

Procedural memory allows us to acquire knowledge automatically and unconsciously, without paying attention, simply by experiencing it. This automaticity is the result of implicit learning, a process that initially transforms complex and conscious actions into fluid and automatic sequences such as washing and dressing, but it is also responsible for the acquisition of aspects concerning the recognition and articulation of sounds and the rules of inflexion and word combination. Therefore, to be efficient, an intervention aimed at improving language development and the development of the various subcomponents of the system should focus on implicit learning and procedural memory. In fact, repeated exposure to rhythmic-musical stimuli, such as songs, in which some patterns or routines directly activate the emotion and reward system (history of past learning with ‘lullabies’), leads to changes in behaviour or perceptions without explicit awareness, greatly improving phonatory articulation. The study reported here was conducted with 11 subjects (8 males and 3 females aged between 2.3 and 5.1 years; average age 3.9 years) who were presented with various nursery rhymes or children’s songs (activation of procedural memory). After six months of treatment, the vocal requests had increased considerably, and their intelligibility had improved significantly.