A team from Kent State University, led by Assistant
Professor Lisa Audet, Ph.D., visited Brazil for an
education-abroad program titled “Global Understanding of
Autism." During their time there, the Kent State team visited
organizations, private and public schools, treatment facilities
and hospitals to gain new perspectives on autism spectrum
disorders.

Effective assessment and treatment of those with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) is a worldwide concern. This past May, Lisa Audet, Ph.D., assistant professor of speech pathology and audiology at Kent State University, learned this firsthand. Through an education-abroad program titled “Global Understanding of Autism,” she and eight Kent State students traveled to Curitiba, Brazil.

For two weeks they visited parent organizations, private and public schools, treatment facilities and hospitals. Audet presented to professionals and parents involved in the ASD community regarding speech-language therapy services in the U.S., ASD as viewed in the U.S. and Kent State initiatives to serve those with ASD.

She and her students learned that Brazilian culture is highly contextualized, which means that relationship and context guide their thinking and actions. This was true for the treatment of those with ASD as well. Words like disability and disordered were seldom used, and intervention focused on relationship development.

Audet and her students also learned about public and healthcare policy. In Brazil, ASD has been recognized as a neurological disorder for the past decade only. Prior to this, ASD was considered a mental health/psychiatric disorder. They learned that within the public schools, children do not receive speech language services. Rather, if such services are needed, they are provided by public agencies, free of charge to the family. Additionally, special service agencies work in close collaboration with the professionals from the public schools.

As in the states, parents advocate for change, funding, access and integration. However, Audet and her students learned that many who work with and care for those with ASD in Brazil look to the United States for its resources and research regarding this complex disorder.

Kent State Assistant Professor Lisa Audet, Ph.D., and her
students pose for a photo during their education-abroad
program in Brazil.

Audet and her students enjoyed the faculty and students from the Universidade Tuiuti do Parana, Curitiba, Brazil, who collaborated with Kent State Brazil to host the visit. She and her students learned about the diversity of Brazil, gained insight into the field of speech language therapy and ASD services abroad, and enjoyed the incredible hospitality of the people. They also explored the beautiful region and traveled by train to Ilha do Mel, a lovely island situated on the coast of Parana, as well as to Iguassu Falls, a beautiful national park, prior to returning home.

Audet will return to Curitiba to continue her work with various agencies during another Kent State education-abroad experience in June 2016. She also is working with students, sororities and other agencies to develop a “sister” relationship with programs in Curitiba and provide them with much-needed “used” assistive technology equipment that would benefit those with ASD in that region of Brazil.

For more information about Audet’s project, contact her at 330-672-0257 or laudet@kent.edu.

For more information about Kent State’s Speech Pathology and Audiology Program, visit www.kent.edu/ehhs/hs/spa.