Displacements with respect to disciplinary knowledge of Speech, Language and Voice Therapist

Abstract

This article presents a series of proposals about what it actually means to be a speech pathologist. The theoretical framework that underlies these proposals is based on the curricular innovation process that the careers at the University of Chile are undergoing, especially for those in the health area, including Speech Therapy. The analysis is done on the basis of two main issues: a definition of disciplinary knowledge and the assumptions that underlie the training of professionals pursuing the degree of speech therapists. The article provides a historical account of the development of speech therapy, including the contextual and epistemological changes that may have given rise to the current status and knowledge of this discipline, which are related to the communicative welfare of people. As such, this paper provides new insights into the understanding of the relationships that this discipline may establish in the Chilean context. Thus, professionals are faced up with the dilemma of defining what the key tenets of the disciplinary knowledge of the speech-language pathologist are, and to propose the episteme of speech therapy. This qualitative open ended approach has not been used in previous studies.