EDITORIAL
Why participate in the SBFa Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology Congress?
Dra. Mara Behlau
President of SBFa
Many undergraduate and graduate students of Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology go to the SBFa congresses, representing almost 65% of the participants, while graduated speech-language pathologists and audiologists correspond to the remaining 35%. However, missing in this group, are newly graduated students, who do not belong to any continuous education program, focus of great professional concerns.
Participating in congresses can provide three benefits: immediate intensive update, enlargement of the network of relationships, and a reflection about our position in relation to our colleagues. We can even think that with all the available information online, the congresses would lose their importance, but that is not what we observe. Moreover, congresses are where we identify new leadership and understand the ways of our profession. If I want to study, I prefer to stay at home accessing papers, which is what I do almost daily; nevertheless, if I want to understand what is happening to my career, to the group I belong, and to my profession, then I go to a congress. The congress is the mirror in which I see myself through others.
Congresses have changed; they are more dynamic and have a faster pace. Besides, in my case specifically, as a voice expert and a consultant in communicative competence, it is during Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology congresses that I get updated regarding other specialization areas. We are, above all, speech-language pathologists and audiologists, and we cannot lose sight of the whole subject, which is a great risk if we only participate in meetings of our areas of specific interest.
Currently, I hold an honorable position as president of the SBFa, which allows me to talk daily to colleagues from all over Brazil. There is a group of professionals that is aligned with the society, who compliments, critics and and offers help, and another group that is distant, and, sometimes, even aggressive in their positions. The colleagues from the first group are enthusiasts, they get annoyed when something doesn't work in a congress, they complain, demand and also identify and compliment changes achieved in the last ten years; meanwhile, the colleagues from the second group either insistently reiterate that they are against the society or complain that the congress is expensive and that the profession is not doing well. I do not have any scientific study to prove my observation, but I notice that the ones that do not go to scientific meetings seem to be more dissatisfied with their professional choice, and to have less strength to fight for a good career. I wish everybody would take part in our congresses, and would complain being a part of the society, and would criticized the scientific production during the discussions that follow the presentations, this way we could get stronger, help our newly graduated colleagues and really reduce the fees of such a big event.
The 2011 congress has the motto COMUNICATION AS A RIGHT FOR ALL, and it presents an intense and broad schedule that values interdisciplinarity and international knowledge. In the 19th Brazilian and 8th International Speech-language Pathology and Audiology Congress, to be carried out from October 30th to November 2nd at the WTC-Sheraton Convention Center, in São Paulo, there are going to be developed six Conferences, 16 Symposiums (11 Interdepartmental meetings, one from the Education Committee and five Update meetings), 12 Workshops (six research and six practice workshops), 18 Round Tables for specific areas, 30 Oral Presentation Sessions, eight Poster Presentation Sessions (Coffee-break with Science), six Instructional Courses, four Update Panels, four Technical-Scientific Meetings, three Undergraduate and Graduate (lato and stricto sensu) Work Group Meetings, and three Career Interviews. This program, carefully prepared by the indefatigable scientific directors, Letícia Mansur and Jacy Perissinoto, has the aim to reflect our reality and to cast powerful ties towards the future, just as the Estaiada Bridge, that symbolizes this congress.
The importance of the event is due to the fact that is the greatest scientific meeting of the Brazilian Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology, and second in the world, regarding number of participants. I highlight, in the present year, the participation of colleagues representing the academic and organizational realms of our profession: we will have the presence of the ex-president of the International Association of Logopedics and Phoniatrics - IALP and of the American Speech-Language and Hearing Association - ASHA, Dolores Battle, who is going to talk about Global Aspects of Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology; the current ASHA's president, Paul Rao, who is going to share his experience with Rehabilitation of Speech Disorders due to Traumatic Brain Injury; the director of the International Society of Audiology - ISA, George Mencher, who is going to present the State of Art of Audiology; the professor Kristiane Van Lierde, from the University of Ghent, Belgium, who is going to bring a review about vocal rehabilitation in functional dysphonia; and Rafael Bernal Castro, director of the Sociedad Iberoamericana de Informacion Cientifica (SIIC), who is going to discuss the Scientific Publication Panorama in the Latin America with editors-in-chief of national journals. In addition to these specific topics, the congress will have the honorable contribution of colleagues from other areas, who will bring us essential information for a more humanistic education, such as Suely Dalari, who will address the issue of Health as a Right, and Sonia Brucki, who is going to talk about Cognitive Reserve and Language. The career interviews, profoundly inspiring, will have the contributions of Lemmieta MacNelly, who is going to tell the story of the transformation of ASHA into a strong professional organization; of Cláudia Cotes, who is going to share with us an enthusiastic report about the challenges of leading the Non-Governamental Organization "Vez da Voz"; and of Alex Perissinoto, who is going to reason about the construction of a Professional Image.
Regardless, all of these will only make sense if we have an expressive number of participants, in order for us to reinforce this network of relationships that is essential for professional development and crucial during moments of crisis.
See you in São Paulo!
Publication Dates
-
Publication in this collection
28 Oct 2011 -
Date of issue
Sept 2011
