Availability of Speech-Language Therapy to Individuals with ASD

Abstract

The significant increase in the prevalence of Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) and of the high costs of necessary therapeutic interventions and health care attention represent a great concern in public health. Once communication impairments are one of the diagnostic criteria for ASD, Speech-Language Therapy (SLT) should be one of the most important therapeutic interventions provided to these subjects. The aim of this study was to associate the offer of SLT services and the number of ASD individuals that use mainly speech to communicate and attend different institutions of a large metropolis in Brazil. A total of 915 individuals, attending one of 25 institutions of different types, were considered. The Student’s t-test was used to compare the institutions with and without SLT services and the proportion of verbal ASD individuals. The results indicate that there aren’t significant differences between the proportion of verbal ASD individuals and the provision of SLT services in the different institutions. Implications and limitations of this study are discussed and it is suggested that the analysis considering verbal and non-verbal individuals, whether and where they receive any SLT and its results can also indicate the better alternatives for public services.