The Santos Dumont Institute (ISD) promoted, in November, a training action for health professionals in Macaíba whose central theme was sport adapted for people with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) within a multi-professional context. Participated 30 professionals from the municipal health network and in different areas of activity, including psychologists, speech therapists and physiotherapists.
The meeting sought bring basic information about Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), seeking to address the demand for reception and care for this public in health services. “We asked some questions beforehand to get to know the professionals and many pointed out that they had already dealt with autistic people, but that they had little knowledge about this population. So, this is an introductory moment, a morning to start this conversation, but looking for the possibility of deepening this discussion in the future”, explains ISD speech therapist preceptor, Luana Aprígio.
During the action, the ISD preceptors presented the Institute's performance and service scope, encouraging future partnerships, reinforcing the specific demands in the care of autistic people and strengthening the discussion and knowledge about adapted sport as a tool for social inclusion. In addition to the discussion on the central theme, participants reviewed and discussed the Care Guidelines for Rehabilitation of People with Autism Spectrum Disorders, from the Ministry of Health, in a joint practical activity.
Ralina Martins, psychologist, was one of the participants in the action. She has been working in Macaíba for two months, at eMulti, a strategy that consists of teams made up of professionals from different areas who work in an integrated manner. Accustomed to caring for people with disabilities, Ralina highlights that the demand for children diagnosed with ASD has grown and sees sport as an important innovation in health care.
“It is important to have this training, especially from institutions that work with research. We are very happy to receive information from a place that is studying, seeking to innovate, especially in this issue of sport, which is another way of thinking about the long-awaited inclusion and even another route of treatment and rehabilitation for these people”, says psychologist Ralina Martins.
Also active in the eMulti strategy of the Macaíba Health Department, Alfredo Almeida, a physical education professional, also participated in the training action. Alfredo works mainly in Basic Health Units (UBS), focusing on care for elderly people and people with comorbidities. He is part of the “Macaíba na Medida” project, which promotes healthy practices and physical activities, and has participated in parasports activities.
“As I do not work specifically with children or ASD, this activity adds more knowledge so that in the future I can also serve these audiences. The participation of professionals from various areas is important so that we speak the same language, so that we can provide the most appropriate service”, reinforces Alfredo Almeida.
ABOUT ISD
The Santos Dumont Institute is a Social Organization linked to the Ministry of Education (MEC) and includes the Edmond and Lily Safra International Neuroscience Institute and the Anita Garibaldi Health Education and Research Center, both in Macaíba. ISD's mission is to promote education for life, forming citizens through integrated teaching, research and extension actions, in addition to contributing to a fairer and more humane transformation of Brazilian social reality.
