ABSTRACT
The Treacher Collins Syndrome or Mandibulofacial dysostosis is due to genetic mutations and characterized by craniofacial malformations. Children with this syndrome may present cognitive, linguistic and psychomotor difficulties. There are few publications that discuss the complexity of its therapeutic aspects, especially those focused on language clinical evolution. The present study aims to analyze a speech - language clinical work on oral language of a boy who has this syndrome, considering the dialogical nature of language. This is a longitudinal and prospective case study, carried out in a university clinic located in the south of Brazil, during four years, from 2012 to 2016. Data were collected from weekly recordings of the patient interacting with his therapists, and also from his record files. The results indicate that this child presented oral language appropriation evolution. Despite his vocal production and phonemes articulation´s difficulties, due to his craniofacial alterations that characterize this syndrome, the dialogical activities established between the child, his therapists and his family, caused gradual changes in his language use. Initially, he used gestures, facial mimics, pointing, which were understood only by people who were part of his daily life. Nowadays, he still uses gestures, but he also began to use oral language to participate in interactive practices, which indicates his autonomy to interact with other people.
Keywords:
Mandibulofacial dysostosis; Clinical evolution; Language; Child development; Family relations