RECURSOS FISIOTERAPÊUTICOS EM CRIANÇAS COM TRANSTORNO DO ESPECTRO AUTISTA (TEA) NA FAIXA ETÁRIA DE 3 A 12 ANOS

ABSTRACT Introduction: Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is described as a neurological disorder capable of affecting the child’s neurodevelopment. Children with ASD have a significant impact on neuropsychomotor development, especially in the sociobehavioral areas, presenting difficulties in interaction and communication. In these cases, physiotherapy treatment becomes fundamental in the child’s psychomotor development, contributing directly to gaining independence, improving socialization, helping in carrying out activities of daily living, significantly improving the quality of life of the child and their families. Objective: The general objective of this study is to describe the physiotherapeutic resources used in the treatment of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) through a Literature Review. Methods: The following study consists of a qualitative Literature Review, where the bibliographic search will be carried out in the databases of the Virtual Health Library (BVS), Scientific Electronic Library Online (SciELO), Cochrane Library and PubMed, in English, Portuguese and Spanish, covering articles published between January 2014 and July 2024, based on the reading of titles and abstracts, using the descriptors “Physical Therapy”, “Autism Spectrum Disorder”, “Children”, through the Boolean operators “AND” and “OR”. Results: The initial search for articles was carried out in the databases, which resulted in a total of 66 articles. In the end, 10 articles were selected for this research. Conclusion: The following work allowed a broad understanding of the physiotherapeutic resources applied to the treatment of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), highlighting the relevance of techniques such as sensory integration therapy, hippotherapy, hydrotherapy, physical exercises and specific physiotherapeutic methods. Keywords: Physiotherapy. Autism Spectrum Disorder. Children.