Work by preceptors, residents and master's students at the Santos Dumont Institute (ISD) were highlighted in the award ceremony for the Speech Therapy Academic Day, promoted by the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN) in September. Of the five awarded works, three are from ISD, in the areas of Public Health and Language. The recognized works come from projects carried out by preceptors and residents within the lines of care of the Specialized Center for Rehabilitation ISD (CER ISD), and address topics such as multidisciplinary care, health education and communicational support for autistic people, within the area of speech therapy.

In the Public Health category, two works were submitted on the Zumbido project, carried out inthe ISD since 2020. Tinnitus is a condition that causes sound sensations felt only by the individual, similar to hissing or noises. The project came about when preceptors and residents noticed a great deal of discomfort among users with the condition.

The work consisted of experience reports from the project team, presenting the care models practiced with users and highlighting health education and stimulation of user autonomy and protagonism in the rehabilitation process. One of the initiatives reported was Tenda dos Contos, a practice that aims to bring together project participants to share life stories and personal objects, with the aim of humanizing contact within the health service, facilitating higher quality care. 

Resident Clara Vivian, one of those responsible for the work that spoke about the Zumbido project, considers the opportunity to share with other health professionals and students a model of care that is closer to the users' reality to be rewarding. 

“The two works that the audiology team carried out were in the format of an experience report, about our perception and construction, so having this recognition of the interventions carried out for tinnitus, which is a health condition that is difficult to treat, caused by many factors and who needs a lot of guidance, was very important for the team”, he says. 

In the Language category, the award-winning work had as its first author the multi-professional speech therapist Luana Aprígio, and consists of research on support for autistic people with complex communication needs. The work analyzes a method called Development of Communication Skills in Autism (DHACA), which seeks to engage children with Autism Spectrum Disorder in exercising communication in a playful and participatory way.

DHACA consists of a communication model in the form of an illustrative book, aimed at people with ASD and those who interact with these people. The method uses messages that indicate needs such as eating, playing, sleeping, and questions such as “what”, “who”, “when”, establishing not only a way of speaking, but a communicative process based on the exchange between people with and without the TEA. 

Speech therapist preceptor Luana Aprígio assesses that the opportunity to propagate research like this is fundamental to achieving the purposes of the DHACA methodology of being an instrument used in the daily life and routine of people with ASD and their communication partners, at school, in home, or other public places.  

“It is important to share knowledge about this strategy, so that wherever the person with ASD goes, it is recognized and can be used as a means of developing these communication skills and taking the effectiveness it brings outside the clinic and care” , adds Luana.