Linguistic variations and their effects on health:

reflections for the speech therapy clinic

Abstract

Introduction:  Linguistic variations do not correspond to communication disorders; however, their valuation constitutes a source of linguistic prejudice and social discrimination, reaching processes of “pathologization”. Speakers of non-prestigious linguistic variations, assuming some speech disorder, sought the health service with a complaint of suffering discrimination due to linguistic prejudice. They experienced a sensation of inferiority, social withdrawal, even lowering of self-esteem; leading to bouts of anxiety or depressive episodes. Objective: To analyze the repercussions of linguistic variations in a group of people, establish indications for reflection on this problem in the field of health, especially in the management of these repercussions in the field of speech therapy. Methods: ‘Descriptive Research’ characterized, in it’s design, as a case study. The ‘Focus Group Discussion’ methodology was used, which consists in favoring and promoting the construction of a group discourse; this being the object of the research. Results: The linguistic variations are constituted in function of origin, socio-cultural extraction and socioeconomic condition and were perceived as a significant variable of discrimination and social exclusion. The analytical categories inferred from the focus group: prejudice and bullying; the speech community and social exclusion; expectations in relation to the prestigious norm. The Speech therapy work should: - recognize and value the suffering of victims; - promote the transit through linguistic variations, understanding phonetic-phonological, syntactic, semantic and prosodic nuances, evaluating the uses and social contexts of oral discourse genders. Conclusion: To indicate the Speech therapy to welcome and assist the victims of linguistic prejudice, in the scope of the clinical action of prevention and health promotion.