Reflections on diagnosis in Educational Speech Language Pathology and Audiology

Abstract

Objective: To understand which diagnostic concepts support some practices performed by speech therapists who work in educational institutions. Methods: Work of empirical nature and drawings structured with quality, descriptive and transversal cut. Five speech therapists participated in this research, identified from the snowball technique. Semi-structured interviews were realized with guiding questions about the work developed in the educational area and the realization of some diagnosis. After collecting the data were transcribed, organized, selected, categorized, and analyzed. Results: It appears that, in general, the speech therapists associate the term “diagnostic” with the realization of screenings; the practice of the clinical diagnostic appears; and only one important mentioned is that the institutional diagnostic practice is focused on the characterization of the scholar institution. It was not observed institutional diagnostic mentioning (a participative process including the knowledge and experience of many actors) to think the determinant factors that are shown in the explicative network of educational/ scholar problems. Conclusions: The importance of situational diagnostics stands out to realize a technical, social, economic and political analysis in the educational context. Based on a listening more open by the different actors, practices may be organized that aren’t defined by a priority of the professional speech therapist, but constructed by the dialogue with the school, constituting a less medical practice.