Abstract:
Speech therapy as a science aims to study and to enable the communication of the subject with his/her social groups, including the family. The participation of speech pathologists is essential in the therapy team that works with visual impairment. Thus, an integrated work between health professionals and family can lead to a great theoretical and practical relevance for the rehabilitation. The objective of the research was to conduct a group intervention with family members to promote their knowledge on visual impairment, as well as to enable and to qualify their conduct in the inclusion process. The study was conducted at a university rehabilitation service. The approval from the Ethics Committee was obtained and the participants signed an informed consent form. Data collection occurred through the initial and the final interview, along with group intervention with family, and focus groups with teenagers. The initial interview led to the selection of topics for group meetings. This paper reports the case of a family member who implemented changes in his home, taking the information received in intervention groups to the whole family. Our results show the importance of working with family for it to support its children in order to promote their school development and effective inclusion. We highlight here that the importance of speech therapy as a mediator in this process, since it enhances communication and family involvement in the education and the rehabilitation of persons with visual impairments. Therefore, group intervention may enable and describe family members' conduct toward noticing changes in their perception and attitudes with regard to the real needs and possibilities of the child with visual impairment.
Keywords:
Family Practice; Self-Help Devices; Health of Specific Groups; Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences; Vision Disorders
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