Inclusão escolar de alunos com autismo: quem ensina e quem aprende?

Abstract

In spite of the recent increase in enrollment of students with autism in regular schools, their participation in school activities and their learning still constitutes a great challenge for educators. Considering the characteristics of students who have the autism diagnosis, the main demand for teachers is to know how to develop, in the daily school life, teaching strategies that help the inclusion and learning process of these students. The main objective this research to analyze the role of Special Education as a support to the school inclusion process by means of investigation of pedagogical practices of two teachers who had autistic students in their regular classes. The object of study was the Autistic Students Inclusion Follow-up Project, developed in the City of Angra dos Reis, RJ, Brazil. This project has for goal to help regular city public schools in the process of inclusion of students with autism, more specifically geared for the teachers´ actions. It was a qualitative research, in which it was utilized the action-research methodology in two case studies corresponding to two experiences of inclusion of autistic students in regular classes. Data was collected by means of different procedures such as participant observation, open and semi-structured interviews and video recording. The results show that the direct contact of Special Education with the teacher, in the classroom, is a favorable factor for inclusion of autistic students. The utilization of curriculum adaptations with flexibility of teaching strategies, and the creation of individualizes activities for the student related with what was proposed for the rest of the class were also identified as important factors. Another relevant data was the involvement of the school directors as a help in the promotion of inclusion of students with autism. In spite of many obstacles that still need to be overcome, the research showed that inclusion of students with autism in regular school, with Special Education support, improves learning of all parties involved. It was emphasized that the progress of autistic students was a direct result of continuous formation of regular school teachers. The research also shows the demand for new studies in the field of Special Education that result in the development of better support practices for inclusion and learning process, in general, of this public.