Abstract

Building transformative speech pathologies located in the historical, social and political context of Latin America, and Chile in particular, requires questioning the epistemic, political and ethical bases on which professional work is based. We propose that the life course perspective (LCP) offers approaches and tools to address this issue. The LCP is an interdisciplinary perspective that studies human development as a complex phenomenon in which individual lives are interrelated with the socio-historical context. International public policies have adopted this approach and incorporated it into health care strategies. However, Latin American hegemonic Speech-Language Therapy is far from adopting a LPC, despite the relevance it has both for the study of human development and for health research and care. In this essay we discuss three areas that seem fundamental to us to propose Speech-Language Therapies from the LCP. First, to question the notion of life cycle on which the vision of human development is based in hegemonic SpeechLanguage Therapy. Second, to recognize and discuss the influence of the biomedical model on both research and current professional practices. Third, to raise the importance of the agency from an ethical-political position in the relationship with people and / or communities. Although we recognize a series of limitations in the approach, these three proposed areas provide reflections on key issues to overcome the current hegemonic model and build Speech-Language Therapies at the service of transformation and social justice in Latin America.