Abstract
Historically, the idea of inclusion has accompanied the transformations in the concept of disability. This shift from the medical model to the social model and more recently to the biopsychosocial model is addressed in the first part of this chapter. In Brazil, it is estimated to be 12.7 million people with disabilities. Brazilian legislation, in accordance with international norms, assures students who are in an inclusive situation the same opportunities to learn as other students. Students with disabilities should have access to the various kinds of instruments to ensure they have the opportunity to learn. Although the data indicates advances in terms of including students with disabilities in the mainstream education system, the goals of the National Education Plan have not been fully met. This chapter aims to present a framework of the actual situation of special and inclusive education in Brazil. The chapter also points out the main features of this legislation and presents statistical data about the Brazilian students with disabilities situation in 2020.
TopBackground
Throughout history, the concepts of madness and disability have been closely linked, both being associated with being different. These constructs are based on the idea that if something does not fit the socially acceptable pattern, it needs to be normalized in order to be socially accepted. People with disabilities were viewed as being tainted, thereby eliminating the possibility of being in society, existing as a subject, as someone who can and deserves to be acknowledged and seen as a person. The unwanted, the different, the mad, and the ill were kept on the edge of society and subject to the logic of confinement and segregation (Foucault, 2007). Hospitals/homes were gradually moved further away from the cities and started to house all kinds of undesirable misfits. That is how the logic of internment began: slowly and cunningly, a perverse logic of excluding the “abnormal” and “atypical” from family life and society started to be applied. To sum up, the logic of internment was to make the misfit and the different invisible by segregating them.
The process of integration, which followed that of segregation, may well be a result of WWII, which produced large numbers of handicapped people, most of whom were men. What does one do with that considerable contingent of the workforce? How would one work with them in a productive system? As, despite their injuries, many were able to work, they were integrated into the industry. Hence, segregation was followed by integration. People with disabilities were formally assimilated into society, yet there was no actual inclusion.
Key Terms in this Chapter
Inclusive Schools: The schools where persons with and without disabilities study together.
AEE: Specialized educational services or assistance. A teacher that works with the main teacher.
Mainstream Schools: Regular schools; the ones that welcome all students in an inclusive perspective.
IEP: Individualized Educational Plans tailored to the student with disabilities’ needs.
Special Schools: Segregated or partially segregated schools, where persons with disabilities do not study with others without disabilities.
Resource Classrooms: Places where students with disabilities receive additional support, complementary and supplementary to the regular school.
Teacher Assistant: Tutor or mediator. A professional who helps students with disabilities in school.
IDP: Individualized Development Plans, tailored to the student with disabilities’ needs.