Speech Language Pathology under graduates Interventions in a Special Education Reference Center from Brazilian Northeast

Abstract

The aim is to describe SLP activities carried out by undergraduates of a university in the Northeast of Brazil at a Reference Center for Special Education. It’s a longitudinal study approved by CEP. Data was collected from records and statements made by users’ parents and the SLP students. The activities took place at the only Reference Center in the state and included supervised SLP individuals and groups activities carried out by the undergraduates. Among the students referred to the center were 47 with speech and language/learning problems, beneficiaries of other public services from different municipalities. The sample group was made up of 27 participants, 19 (70%) boys and 23 (85%) coming from mainstream education. The participants were allocated to eight groups and took part in five language workshops, run by two undergraduates and supervised by a tutor, while the participants’ parents were invited to two meetings. Apart from giving the parents the opportunity to receive advice, the workshops proved to favour linguistic-cognitive abilities and to improve the interaction in the researched group. For further SLP treatment, the participants were referred to the school clinic of the university, considering the reference and counter-reference system between services. Both, the development the users underwent and the parents’ and undergraduate students’ testemonies show that activities were effective. The future professionals had the opportunity to experience SLP activities aiming to promote health in the area of inclusive education, besides made a contribution to the further development and process of socioeducational inclusion of the researched group