Neurodiversidade na educação: quem são e como se dão os processos educacionais das crianças neurodivergentes?

Abstract

: This work consists of reflecting on Neurodiversity and Inclusive Education. When observing history, one notices the exclusion of several social groups, popularly called “minorities”, from institutional and social practices, as they distance themselves from conventionally constructed standards, being exposed to impositions, educational and political restrictions and being prevented from collective practices. The expression Neurodiversity was coined by sociologist Judy Singer, conceptualizing the term as the understanding that distinct neurological conditions, which differ from the “standard” are part of human diversity, not requiring cure or procedures that aim to make neurodivergent people “indistinguishable from pairs". Therefore, human diversity begins to be understood, respected and analyzed as part of a social context. Autism is a neurodevelopmental disorder marked by differences in social communication and the presence of restricted patterns of interest and behavior. The dissertation consisted of a bibliographical research, in its initial article; a quantitative research in its second article, which aims to present who autistic/neurodivergent children are and a qualitative research in its third article, both with the population of autistic children aged six to eleven years old, without gender distinctions, registered at the Associação Norte Minas Gerais Support Center for Autistic People – ANDA, located in the city of Montes Claros – MG. A questionnaire was used as a research instrument, obtaining a total of fourteen questionnaires completed by the children's guardians. The results point to a profile with a predominance of males. The majority of participants are of low socioeconomic status, enrolled in public schools, in addition to the predominance of autistic people with comorbidities in addition to ASD. In addition to the research, it highlights stereotypes and expectations regarding inclusion, as well as the need for broad discussions about autism and neurodiversities, considering that the perspective of neurodiversity expands the acceptance and inclusion of diversities. Therefore, the research highlights the need for broad discussions about autism and neurodiversities, considering the subjects in their contexts, with a careful look at the possibilities of double exceptionality, the risks of double exclusion and denied access, paying attention to the social structure under a neurotypical paradigm, which in itself, leads neurodivergent subjects to face daily challenges in their existence, which will sometimes be enhanced by an education that makes them invisible, by a socioeconomic context that makes access to quality of life difficult, by social stigmas within from the community of health and education professionals itself.