“Em vez de eu me tornar um com eles, eles se tornaram um comigo”: narrativas de estudantes com Deficiência Intelectual matriculados na UNIMONTES

Abstract

Access for people with intellectual disabilities in higher education is a recent achievement in Brazil, with emphasis on the inclusion of this public by law no. 13,409, of 2016, which provides for the reservation of places for people with disabilities in secondary and technical courses. higher education at federal educational institutions. In 2015, the State University of Montes Claros – UNIMONTES joined the Unified Selection System – SISU, reserving 5% of its places for the Special Education Target Audience (PAEE) in its undergraduate courses. Although legislation guides the adoption of procedures for entering and remaining at this level of education, inclusive education still presents itself as something complex and challenging, which demands engagement from the entire academic community. The necessary conditions for school inclusion to be effective require methodological and organizational adaptations and removal of barriers to meet educational needs. Considering the social model of disability and current legislation, this research aimed to understand the trajectories of educational inclusion of people with intellectual disabilities in Higher Education at UNIMONTES and the aspects that facilitate and/or hinder their inclusion, focusing on the experiences and narratives of students with intellectual disabilities enrolled. This is a qualitative research that used the narrative interview proposed by Bauer and Gaskell (2002) as an instrument for data collection. The study was organized in two moments. The first moment included a study of legislation and an integrative literature review on the inclusion of people with intellectual disabilities in Higher Education, in Brazilian universities, based on a survey of Theses and Dissertations on the CAPES portal, with a time frame from 2015 to 2022 , followed by field research where seven academics with intellectual disabilities enrolled in the second semester of 2022 in undergraduate courses at the Unimontes headquarters camp were interviewed. The academics described their entry into the University as positive, highlighting the quotas as essential for this achievement, without which their access to Higher Education would not be possible. They perceived as facilitating aspects for their stay at the university the interaction with some colleagues and teachers and their efforts to help them, the acquisition of a support teacher, however, they covered a large part of the course without the support of this professional and, not everyone has access to this professional. They also narrate as obstacles to their inclusion process the non-disclosure of affirmative actions carried out by Unimontes, prejudices on the part of some teachers and some colleagues, lack of teacher training to offer Specialized Educational Service, inadequate teaching methodologies. However, they recognize the efforts of some teachers and colleagues to help them and that inclusive education has advanced in the last semester. Despite the difficulties in completing the course, they wish to remain at the educational institution, they recognize that the undergraduate course increased their autonomy and social inclusion. They hope that the process of inclusive education will be debated in the academic community and that, after completing the undergraduate course, they will be included in the job market, continuing with subsequent studies.