Introduction: We conducted a systematic literature review to investigate the domain of speech-language and hearing sciences (SLHS) in telehealth. Methods: The databases used for the literature search were Web of Knowledge, Pubmed, Scopus, Embase and Scielo. The inclusion criteria consisted of papers published up to August 2014. Papers without peer-review evaluation, and those without abstracts or available full texts were excluded. Results: A total of 103 papers were selected. The selected studies have focused primarily on hearing (32.1%), followed by speech (19.4%), language (16.5%), voice (8.7%), swallowing (5.8%), multiple areas (13.6%) and others (3.9%). The majority of the studies focused on assessment (36.9%) or intervention (36.9%). The use of telehealth in SLHS has been increasing in many countries, especially in the last 5 years. The country with the largest number of published studies was the United States of America (32.03%), followed by Australia (29.12%). The remaining studies were distributed in lower numbers among other countries. Discussion: The advancement of information and communication technologies provides more favourable conditions for providing distance care in several areas. Most of studies concluded that the telehealth procedure had advantages over the non-telehealth alternative approach (85.5%); however, 13.6% reported that it was unclear whether the telehealth procedure had advantages. Some barriers still need to be overcome, such as technology, training, regulation, acceptance and recognition of the benefits of this practice by the public and professionals. The need for speech-language pathologists and audiologists to adapt to this new health care modality is evident.

Brazil has more than 200 million inhabitants living in an area of more than 8.5 million km² (Ministério da Saúde, Brasil, 2013a^,b). Granting access to health and educational services for populations in such different environments clearly demands different actions and resources. Official policies regarding rehabilitation services and education to children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) are being gradually defined and implemented. This article aims to present an overview of the Brazilian health system that considers health as a universal right and a state's duty. Some of the strategies created to provide services to persons with different needs living in different environments are outlined. Specifically in what refers to persons with ASD, there are laws, bills of rights, and guidelines, but their implementation is gradual and uneven. More developed regions provide more comprehensive support to these persons and their families, but some initiatives of outreach are being implemented. Speech–language pathology services are integrated to the health system and present their own challenges. Undergraduate programs for speech–language pathology include ASD as part of the mandatory training, and there are postgraduate studies in the field. Some challenges are being met by several initiatives by different groups as parents, scientific associations, and universities. Issues such as tests and protocols that can be used to Portuguese-speaking children and the identification of efficient methods that can be applied in different situations and orientation to parents and families have been object of research for some decades. There are still many challenges that must be addressed to provide adequate health and educational services to children with ASD and their families in Brazil.

Visando dar subsídios à análise do trabalho do fonoaudiólogo na Atenção Básica, mais especificamente nos Núcleos de Apoio à Saúde da Família (NASF), este artigo realizou revisão da literatura sobre o tema abordado usando ferramentas de busca do Medline, SciELO e o LILACS, por intermédio da pesquisa avançada simultânea de base de dados da Biblioteca Virtual em Saúde (BVS), da Bireme. Procurou-se resgatar um pouco da história da Fonoaudiologia no SUS e dar ênfase à importância da Estratégia de Saúde da Família relacionada ao serviço de Fonoaudiologia nos NASFs. A pesquisa realizada aponta que a atuação da Fonoaudiologia dentro do sistema de saúde é bastante extensa, perpassando diferentes níveis de assistência, o que requer o desenvolvimento de distintas tecnologias de trabalho em saúde. As ações desenvolvidas pelos NASFs exigem, necessariamente, a atuação de equipes interdisciplinares, implicadas em processos de trabalho transdisciplinar e na criação/invenção de dispositivos terapêuticos. A análise das experiências de atuação da Fonoaudiologia na Atenção Básica, na Saúde da Família e, mais recentemente, nos NASFs, merece ser acompanhada e avaliada de perto para que se possa avançar na produção e sistematização de práticas de cuidado à saúde que respondam às necessidades da população e que sejam capazes de enfrentar os graves efeitos dos distúrbios de linguagem, voz, motricidade oral e audição. Desta forma conclui-se que se faz necessário o monitoramento e sistematização dos limites e potencialidades deste modelo, visando seu aprimoramento e apropriação do mesmo, como estratégia de atenção integral, de inserção da Fonoaudiologia no SUS.

PURPOSE: To identify the main risk factors related to children and their parents, associated with speech and language disorders. METHODS: A prospective descriptive study conducted with 170 children and their parents assisted at a school clinic in the period between March 2010 and July 2012. A protocol was developed for this study in order to identify risk factors for language and speech disorders. Data were tabulated and analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics by the Χ2 and Student' s t-test . RESULTS: The demographic profile is composed of male children aged between 4 and 5 years old, ethnicity declared by parents as being white, residents of the western region of the city of São Paulo, and whose parents had completed high school. The factors related to family and considered as risks for language impairment were being an only child and having a family history of speech and language disorders. As for the children' s health, prematurity, hospitalization for a long period, and the presence of deleterious oral habits were also considered as risk factors. CONCLUSION: The protocol allows establishing the main risk factors related to children with speech and language disorders. It is suggested that children who present with one or more of the aforementioned risk factors should be regularly monitored for speech and language development and, if necessary, referred for early intervention.

Objective: To review what the literature says about reading abilities of children on the autism spectrum (autism spectrum disorders, ASD) as well as to assess the results of intervention proposals. The broad ASD diagnosis used in the last decades and the resulting changes in the prevalence of these disorders have led to a relevant increase in the number of children diagnosed with ASD in the school system. The purpose of this review is to identify the different profiles of reading abilities shown by children with ASD described in the recent literature and the results of reported intervention methods. Methods: A review of the literature was conducted in the Web of Sciences and PubMed databases with the keywords ‘autism' AND ‘read*' and the filter 2010-2015. All articles published in the last 5 years focusing on description of and intervention for reading abilities in individuals with ASD were included. Review articles were excluded. Results: The selected 58 articles were divided into those that described reading abilities in individuals with ASD (n = 27) and those that reported intervention procedures for reading development (n = 31). Conclusions: Direct comparisons and associations were prevented due to different inclusion criteria and lack of detailed information about intervention processes. We propose tentative conclusions that should be confirmed by further studies.