A case study of a socially deprived child from a dialogical approach

Abstract

This study aims to discuss how Speech-language therapy based on a dialogical perspective can facilitate the language appropriation process of a child, victim of social deprivation.In this longitudinal case study, the collected data, from February to November 2016, were analyzed from therapy sessions conducted at a Speech-Language Clinic located in Southern Brazil. The child was a 5-year old girl, victim of social deprivation in her early childhood. For the language therapeutic and evaluation process, the therapist used contextualized language-based activities, several social functions, such as house playing and dolls. During the evaluation process, it was noted that the child did not show intention to initiate or respond to taking turns, did not maintain visual contact and used incomplete and generally unintelligible statements. Throughout the therapeutic process, it was seen that this child began to participate more effectively in the dialogues, replicating the statements of others, positioning herself in relation to the other, perceiving herself as a dialogical subject and initiating the interactive process. Through the dialogical interactions that occurred in this period, it is considered that there was an expansion of her discursive interactions, allowing a better organization of her speech and the role she plays in each social interaction.