Speech-language intervention in deafblindness: a case study

Abstract

Deafblindnessis a condition in which the person has as deficits in two sensory pathways concomitantly, hearing and vision, and can present itself in different ways. The work of an interdisciplinary team is of paramount importance so that these people have the opportunity to minimize or dribble the differences found when you have these two sensory modifications, whether it is congenital or acquired. Speech therapy has as its attribution the competence to intervene in the construction of the communication of the deafblind, considering the individual characteristics of this condition, contributing to the social inclusion of these individuals. Thus, the present study aims to describe the speech-language intervention with a blind child with bilateral hearing loss, analyzing the communicative development of the child through speech-language intervention. This study is based on a case study carried out at the, with a nine year-old female
child with congenital rubella syndrome, blind and with auditory impairment. It was approved by the Research Ethics Committee of the Veiga de Almeida University (CAAE: 07674819.0.0000.5291). The material used for data collection was the medical record of B.R.O.S, who was in the field of speech therapy, which was analyzed qualitatively, in order to expose the development of the student with regard to the profile of communicative skills.With this study, it was possible to observe some changes that may be presented in deafblindness and the importance of timely intervention, explaining the individuality of the deafblind subject and the fundamental role of the speech therapist in face of the communication alterations manifested by the child with deafblindness in thepre-linguistic phase.This study demonstrates the performance of speech therapy seeking the communicative intention of the subject twith congenital deafblindness, allowing the interpretation and construction of an effective communication, contributing to the social inclusion of the same.