Trabalho clínico fonoaudiológico com pacientes autistas: concepções teóricas e práticas clínicas

Abstract

Childhood autism has been studied by different professionals who adopt, as reference,different theoretical and methodological approaches. The first scientist to describe autism was the Austrian psychiatrist Leo Kanner. In his first article, Kanner (1943), describes as characteristics of that syndrome the inability to maintain eye contact, the search for complete isolation, stereotyped, repetitive, and monotonous movements. Among those, the most singular one was the inability to relate to people and situations. Nowadays, autism is seen as a Pervasive Developmental Disorder (DSM-IV - Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders -1995), which encompasses alterations in language and in social interaction and restricted interest areas. When it comes to Speech-Language Pathology clinic focusing on these patients, we note that a wide range of theoretical and methodological references is used by these professionals. Therefore,this study aims to analyze the clinical practice this professional carries out with these patients, focusing on the relationship between the clinical dimension and the theoretical-methodological references supporting it. For that purpose, two groups of speech-language pathologists working with autistic children were interviewed. The first group was composed of speech-language pathologists holding a Master's degree, and the second group consisted of specialized speech-language pathologists. When questioned as to their theoretical approach towards childhood autism, the speech-language pathologists interviewed referred to a medical description of the pathology, based on DSM-IV criteria. As to the work done with these patients, most of the professionals adopt the pragmatic perspective,while some of them work with alternative communication