A IMPORTÂNCIA DA FORMAÇÃO DO DOCENTE NA ATUAÇÃO JUNTO A ALUNOS COM ESPECTRO AUTISTA
REGISTRO DOI: 10.69849/revistaft/ra10202509031524
Maria Ilza Gomes Ferreira Silva1
Rozineide Iraci Pereira da Silva2
Prof. Dr. Diogenes José Gusmão Coutinho3
RESUMO: A formação de professores é crucial para proporcionar um ambiente de aprendizagem inclusivo para alunos com autismo e atender às suas necessidades individuais. Essa formação transmite conhecimento sobre a percepção autista, promove a compreensão de comportamentos desafiadores e equipa os professores com estratégias práticas. Isso os capacita a estabelecer estruturas e rotinas, utilizar métodos de ensino adaptados e criar uma atmosfera de apoio na qual os alunos autistas possam desenvolver seu potencial. Por que a formação de professores é importante: Compreender as características específicas: A formação proporciona uma compreensão profunda da percepção e dos estilos de comunicação específicos de alunos com autismo. Reduzir inseguranças: Os professores recebem ferramentas para superar inseguranças ao lidar com crianças autistas e para responder adequadamente à situação. Criar ambientes de aprendizagem inclusivos: Com o conhecimento adquirido, os professores podem criar um ambiente de aprendizagem que leve em consideração as necessidades dos alunos autistas e os inclua ativamente. Desenvolver estratégias de enfrentamento: Estratégias e métodos práticos ajudam a compreender comportamentos desafiadores e a lidar com eles de forma construtiva. Como o treinamento auxilia no cotidiano escolar: Estabelecendo estruturas: Os professores aprendem a implementar rotinas confiáveis, regras claras e pessoas de contato designadas, o que proporciona segurança aos alunos autistas. Adaptando métodos de ensino: O conhecimento das necessidades especiais possibilita a adaptação de materiais didáticos e tarefas para promover a compreensão e a motivação. Promovendo a interação social: Os professores podem tomar medidas direcionadas para incentivar a interação com os colegas e atribuir aos alunos autistas papéis que utilizem seus pontos fortes. Aprimorando a comunicação: Os professores podem aprender a adaptar sua comunicação para facilitar a compreensão dos alunos autistas, por exemplo, por meio de visualizações e linguagem clara e positiva. Os benefícios para todos os envolvidos:
Palavras-chave: formação docente; práxis pedagógica; desenvolvimento docente.
ABSTRACT: Teacher education is crucial to providing an inclusive learning environment for students with autism and meeting their individual needs. This training imparts knowledge about autistic perception, promotes understanding of challenging behaviors, and equips teachers with practical strategies. This empowers them to establish structures and routines, utilize adapted teaching methods, and create a supportive atmosphere in which autistic students can develop their potential. Why teacher training is important: Understand specific characteristics: Training provides an in-depth understanding of the perception and specific communication styles of students with autism. Reduce insecurities: Teachers are given tools to overcome insecurities when dealing with autistic children and to respond appropriately to the situation. Create inclusive learning environments: With the knowledge gained, teachers can create a learning environment that takes into account the needs of autistic students and actively includes them. Develop coping strategies: Practical strategies and methods help to understand challenging behaviors and deal with them constructively. How the training helps in everyday school life: Establishing structures: Teachers learn to implement reliable routines, clear rules, and designated contact persons, which provides safety for autistic students. Adapting teaching methods: Knowledge of special needs makes it possible to adapt teaching materials and tasks to promote understanding and motivation. Promoting social interaction: Teachers can take targeted steps to encourage interaction with peers and assign autistic students roles that play to their strengths. Enhancing communication: Teachers can learn to adapt their communication to make it easier for autistic students to understand, for example, through visualizations and clear, positive language. The benefits for everyone involved:
Keywords: teacher training; pedagogical praxis; teacher development.
1 INTRODUCTION
Autism is a challenging topic, so this article will address the importance of teacher training in working with these students, since universities still work with very old curricula, not providing the student with the knowledge and skills necessary to receive them in school properly, which only ends up happening during the curricular internship or when they start their academic life. Currently schools are receiving a large number of students with autism, however the topic is still little known by education professionals and other professionals who need to deal with these children on a daily basis. The National Policy for the Protection of the Rights of Persons with Autism Spectrum Disorder emphasizes that:
The training of education professionals will enable the construction of knowledge for educational practices that provide the socio-cognitive development of students with autism spectrum disorder. (TECHNICAL NOTE No. 24 /2013 /MEC /SECADI /DPEE).
Due to the number of students with autism spectrum who are being inserted in the school, the topic is being discussed continuously, so that there is a focus that defines what autism actually is, so that teachers have appropriate training and preparation to deal with these students. For VELTRONE; MENDES:
Schools with inclusive proposals must recognize and respond to the diverse difficulties of their students, accommodating different learning styles and paces, and ensuring quality education for all through appropriate curricula, modifications, organizations, teaching strategies, resources, and partnerships with communities. Inclusion requires new positions from the school that imply an effort to update and restructure the current conditions, so that teaching is modernized and teachers can improve, adapting pedagogical actions to the diversity of learners (VELTRONE; MENDES, 2007, p. 2).
1 RESEARCH PROBLEM
Would the teacher without initial training or practical teaching experience be able to mediate the learning of students with Autism Spectrum? What is the importance of teacher training in working with autistic students?
1.2 OBJECTIVES
1.2.1 GENERAL
Understand the importance of teacher training in mediating the learning and development of students with Autism Spectrum.
1.2.2 SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES
- Verify whether practical teacher training can be a differential in working with students with Autism Spectrum;
- To understand if this training is decisive for the development and learning of autistic students;
- To know the knowledge that teachers use to mediate the development of students with autism spectrum.
2 METHODOLOGY
We will use qualitative research because it is according to Esteban, 2010, p. 127. Qualitative research is a systematic activity oriented towards the in-depth understanding of educational and social phenomena, the transformation of socio-educational practices and scenarios, decision-making and also the discovery and development of an organized body of knowledge. Regarding the collection method, we will use semi-structured interviews with teachers from the municipal school system of Recife.
3 LITERATURE REVIEW
SIGNS OF AUTISM IN CHILDHOOD
From one and a half years of age, some signs of autism can already appear, even earlier in more severe cases. It is very important to start treatment as soon as possible, even if it is still only a clinical suspicion, because the sooner interventions are started, the greater the chances of improving the person’s quality of life. Psychological treatment with evidence of efficacy, according to the American Psychiatric Association, is behavioral intervention therapy, applied by psychologists. The most used of them is ABA (Applied Behavior Analysis in Portuguese). As the treatment for autism is interdisciplinary, that is, in addition to psychology, patients can benefit from speech therapy, occupational therapy, among other professionals.
List of some signs of autism, but it is worth mentioning that only three of them present in a child of one and a half years already justify a suspicion to consult a neuropediatrician or a child and youth psychiatrist. Tests such as M-CHAT (including the Portuguese version) are available on the internet to be applied by professionals. Learn more in our article on the signs and symptoms of autism: not maintaining eye contact for more than 2 seconds, Not answering when called by name, Isolating or not being interested in other children, aligning objects, Being too attached to routines to the point of going into crisis, Not playing with toys in a conventional way, making repetitive movements with no apparent function, not speaking or not making gestures to show something, repeating phrases or words at inappropriate times, without the proper function (echolalia), not sharing their interests and attention, pointing to something or not looking when we point to something, rotating objects without an apparent function, restricted interest or hyperfocus, not imitating, not playing make-believe.
JUSTIFICATION
In this article we seek to emphasize the importance of teacher training in working with autistic students, in the past it was believed that Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) was related to the genes of parents, which would pass on to their children, with the evolution of science, this statement has not been proven, since it is not yet known which gene gives rise to autism.
Mello (2007, p. 16) defines autism as a developmental disorder where what is most evident are the alterations present from a very early age, before the age of three, with multiple consequences, varying in noble areas of human development such as communication, social interaction, learning and ability to adaptação.Com this definition, it is clear that to understand the person with ASD it is necessary to understand their way of thinking, relate and act, that is, try to see him as someone who has different behaviors and therefore needs respect. Regarding the training of teachers, it is necessary to take a more detailed look at their pedagogical practice. For Costa, 2012, p.4-5.
[…] Teacher training courses signal the importance of the environment that gives meaning to school autonomy and determines the responsibilities of teachers, without neglecting the institutional project of educational establishments. Therefore, it is established that the protagonism in education is directed to educators and will be based on their definitions of how to teach, how to learn, and how best to evaluate. Thus, it is possible to assume conceptions that make it possible to develop a pedagogical activity characterized by an instrumentalizing perspective and aimed at treating teaching as an educational action that does not go beyond the limits of the classroom, whose methods and techniques employed are at the service of a pragmatic knowledge unrelated to the complex dynamics of the universe.
Although there are many debates and studies of some inclusive topics in the training of professionals, working with children with disabilities still brings a lot of insecurity to this professional. It is necessary that specialized training takes place to help these professionals with the demand for an inclusive classroom, otherwise, the classroom will have several special students, however inclusion will not happen. Professionals who have students with ASD in their classroom need to understand other pedagogical and psychological methods to be able to provide assistance in case of an incident with the child, understanding the student’s abilities is also of paramount importance, as these are the skills that will help the teacher to include him. For all this to happen will depend on the training that this teacher has received. According to Salamanca’s statement:
It is necessary to rethink the training of specialized teachers, so that they are able to work in different situations and can assume a key role in special educational needs programs. Uncategorised initial training covering all types of disability should be adapted before specialised training in one or more areas relating to specific disabilities is undertaken. (DECLARATION OF SALAMANCA, 1994, p, 27).
The commitment of the education professional who works with children who have some type of special educational needs makes a big difference in their lives, as they still suffer a lot of prejudice from people who do not see them as human beings capable of learning.
AUTISM (TEA)
In 1943, Leo Kanner, a physician at Johns Hopkins University, located in Baltimore, in the United States of America, described in an article a little-known clinical condition in children. The main characteristic of the condition was the inability of these children to relate naturally to people. In addition, they had speech delay and a peculiar language, alterations in cognitive development, repetitive behaviors and other sensory difficulties. The article entitled Autistic Affective Contact Disorders (Kanner 1943) is fundamental to understanding the history of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). It is important to remember that child psychiatry, as a medical specialty, would only be recognized from the 1930s onwards. Hence the importance of the study that culminated in Kanner’s article. We can imagine that from this observation, there were already children with autism before the description of the clinical picture, but autism was confused with other pathologies or deficits, especially intellectual deficits. Kanner’s great merit was to perceive in the study he carried out with eleven children (eight boys and three girls), the characteristics that still remain pathognomonic, that is, as specific to the clinical picture.
At the same time, Hans Asperger in Austria published the article Autistic Psychopathology of Childhood (Asperger’s 1944). They did not know each other and at that time information did not circulate as it does today, they were on different continents in a period of war. However, both used the term “autism” to describe the disorder. And the coincidences don’t stop there. In addition to Asperger and Kanner, another character appears in this story. Like the two, Bruno Bethelheim was Austrian. But unlike his countrymen, his option was for psychoanalysis. Its practice, based on this theory, negatively marked the lives of thousands of families and its reflection can be seen today. The three Austrians are part of a story that has undergone a major twist in recent years. Faced with the question of what causes autism and the aloof behavior of children with the disorder, it was easy to find someone to blame, the one who would be blamed and held responsible for the child’s condition: the mother. Refrigerator mothers, a translation of the term refrigerator mothers, from the English language. Women who for decades were led to believe that they were responsible for their children presenting self-aggression behaviors, lack of speech or crises triggered without apparent cause this occurred because the mothers would not have loved their children enough, would not have established bonds with the child and who, “unconsciously”, rejected motherhood.
During the 50s and 60s of the same century, new research would be done based on Kanner’s discoveries, however, appearing to have brought even more doubts and confusion to something that at that time was still little known. As already mentioned above, some researchers have even found that autistic behavior would be originated by poor relationships between parents and children, to the extent that fathers and mothers, when treating their children without affection, would be responsible for its cause. A symbol of this period would be Temple Grandin, the American who revolutionized the North American livestock industry by inventing, based on her difficulties for being autistic, a system that facilitated the slaughter and also the care of animals in the area.
Grandin gives lectures talking about his experience to date, and always talks about how important it is to help autistic people develop their potential. Another important moment in the history of autism took place under the studies of Michael Rutter (1978), a psychologist of British origin, who would define the bases of autism in four criteria. Cognitive delays and social deviance (not only as a function of mental retardation); communication problems, again, not only due to associated mental retardation; unusual behaviors, such as stereotyped and compulsive movements; and onset of the condition before 30 months of age.
AUTISTIC PEOPLE’S RIGHTS
Every person with ASD, as well as all citizens of the country, has their rights guaranteed by the Federal Constitution of 1988 and other national laws. In this way, autistic children and adolescents have all the rights provided for in the Statute of the Child and Adolescent (Law 8.069/90), and those over 60 years of age are protected by the Statute of the Elderly (Law 10.741/2003).
The Berenice Piana Law (12.764/12) created the National Policy for the Protection of the Rights of Persons with Autism Spectrum Disorder, which determines the right of autistic people to an early diagnosis, treatment, therapies and medication through the Unified Health System; access to education and social protection; work and services that provide equal opportunities. This law also stipulates that the person with autism spectrum disorder is considered a person with a disability, for all legal purposes.
This is important because it allowed people with ASD to be housed in specific laws for people with disabilities, such as the Statute of Persons with Disabilities (13.146/15), as well as in international standards signed by Brazil, such as the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (6.949/2000).
In addition to these more comprehensive public policies, it is worth highlighting some legislation that regulates more specific issues of everyday life. How: Law (13.370/2016) that reduces the working hours of public servants with autistic children. The authorization removes the need for compensation or reduction of salaries for federal civil servants who are parents of people with ASD. Law 8.899/94: Guarantees free interstate transport to autistic people who prove income of up to two minimum wages. The request is made through the Social Assistance Reference Center (CRAS). Law 8.742/93: The Organic Law of Social Assistance (LOAS), which offers the Continuous Benefit (BPC).
To be entitled to a minimum wage per month, the ASD must be permanent and the family’s monthly per capita income must be less than 1/4 (one quarter) of the minimum wage. To apply for the BPC, it is necessary to register with the Unified Registry for Social Programs of the Federal Government (CadÚnico) and schedule the examination on the INSS website. Law 7.611/2011: Provides for special education and specialized educational service. The Law 7.853/1989: Stipulates support for people with disabilities, their social integration, institutes the jurisdictional protection of collective or diffuse interests of these people, disciplines the performance of the Public Prosecutor’s Office and defines crimes.
Law 10.098/2000: Establishes general standards and basic criteria for the promotion of accessibility for people with disabilities or reduced mobility. Law 10.048/2000: Gives priority to people with disabilities and other cases.
In 2020, the Brazilian Federal Senate approved Law 13.977, also known as the Romeo Mion Law. It determines a great advance in the rights of people with autism. The new legislation was named in honor of presenter Marcos Mion’s eldest son, Romeo, an autistic child. It determines the creation of the Identification Card for Persons with Autism Spectrum Disorder (Ciptea), to better identify people with ASD. The application must include full name, affiliation, place and date of birth, identity card number, CPF number, blood type, home address and telephone number, as well as a 3×4 photo, signature or fingerprint of the interested party. The law also requires the full name, identification document, home address, telephone number and email of the legal guardian or caregiver.
The Ciptea will be valid for five years, but the family must keep the registration data of the identified person up to date. Whenever the license is renewed, the identification number must be maintained, to allow the counting of people with autism spectrum disorder throughout the national territory. The law recommends that the agencies responsible for issuing identity documents include information about autism spectrum disorder on the ballots.
THE ROLE OF THE TEACHER IN THE INCLUSION OF CHILDREN WITH AUTISM.
When the topic is about inclusion, we immediately think of the role of the teacher in this process, since he is the one who is on the front line with the student continuously. With the inclusion law (LBI), also called the Statute of Persons with Disabilities (13.146/2015), which ensured the autonomy and capacity of these citizens to exercise acts of civil life on an equal basis with other people. In this sense, new attributions and responsibilities fall on the teacher, who in turn has, even without being prepared, to face adverse situations on a daily basis, one of them the education of students with ASD. When we talk about the role of teacher, we start from the assumption that it is essential to intervene and mediate it in these situations, it is no longer only a transmitter of knowledge, but must be an advisor, who encourages, motivates, instigates and promotes development, learning, based on the interaction built in the interaction with the class. For (Oliveira, 1997, p.26) mediation is a process of intervention of an intermediary element in a relationship; the relationship then ceases to be direct and becomes mediated by this element. So, we can say that the teacher’s performance in relation to the inclusion of the student with ASD is decisive, since he is the one who welcomes, has the first contact with the student, whether this encounter is positive or negative. For this reason, he is the most responsible for establishing or not the inclusion process, based on the principle that it is his responsibility to promote learning opportunities for all, adapting his teaching system, allowing each student to develop, regardless of whether he has special needs or not. Cunha states that:
There is no way to talk about inclusion without mentioning the role of the teacher. It is necessary that he is able to work with inclusion and inclusion. It will be fruitless for the educator to learn about learning difficulties and modes of psychopedagogical intervention if he or she is unable to include the student. CUNHA, (2014, p. 101).
The teacher is a fundamental part of this relationship, making it possible for the student with ASD to live with others in the classroom requires doing a differentiated work, to serve the group as a whole, so that none of them are on the margins of knowledge. It is important to check the level of learning development of the autistic student, to know what aspects can be worked on. For Santos:
The level of development of autistic learning is usually slow and gradual, so it will be up to the teacher to adapt his communication system to each student. SANTOS, (2008, p.30).
It is the teacher’s duty to give special attention to the student with autism, to know what their specificities are, how they behave, what their most constant needs are, because it is of paramount importance that the teacher knows all the particularities and difficulties that are part of this disorder, so that she is able to organize her interventions so that this student does not suffer discrimination. According to Orrú:
It is essential that the educator and any other professional who works with the person with autism be knowledgeable about the syndrome and its inherent characteristics. However, such knowledge should serve as positive support for the planning of actions to be practiced and executed […], ORRÚ, (2003, p.1).
For the process to work properly, the teacher needs to master the concepts applied and as much knowledge as he can of autism. It is essential that he promotes awareness of inclusive practices in the classroom, seeking to assist in a concrete way in the development and learning of this student. However, we know that there is not a sufficient number of teachers trained in inclusive education to work with autistic children, which implies that there is a lack of knowledge necessary to deal with and teach children with this type of disorder. Another important point of the teacher’s role. He must create bonds of trust with the child, teach him, develop self-confidence, independence, interact, since these are qualities that do not exist in his personality. For this to happen, it is necessary to create activities according to their development. This type of awareness will allow the student with autism to develop other learning, continuing in their school life.
CONCLUSION
In view of the above, we realize that the teacher in fact has an essential role in the evolution of the teaching and learning of students with ASD, but for this to occur, he has to be trained to exercise, which is a position of extreme responsibility, because these students have to be inserted in the school context, regardless of your limitations. Therefore, based on the studies carried out to compose this article, we observe that despite these limitations, students with ASD learn more willingly, when the teacher changes the routine to stimulate their attention. We currently find several resources that allow us to provide quality education for students with ASD. We know that we have several structural problems, which make inclusion difficult in general, but it is a fight that is still in the beginning, but that has a lot to do. However, learning must always be in the foreground and new knowledge must always be built, in a particular way and in the child’s time, and this must be assisted by the teacher and the family.
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1Pedagoga pela Universidade Estadual Vale do Acaraú – UVA;
Psicopedagoga pela Faculdade Escritor Osman da Costa Lins-FACOL,
Mestranda em Ciências da educação pela Christian business School-CBS.
E-mail: gomesilza907@gmail.com
2Pedagoga pela Universidade Estadual Vale do Acaraú -UVA;
Psicopedagoga pela Faculdade Escritor Osman da Costa Lins-FACOL;
Mestra em Ciências da Educação pela Christian Business School título reconhecido pela Universidade Federal de Alagoas -UFAL;
Doutora em Ciências da educação pela Christian Business School, título reconhecido pela Universidade Federal de Alagoas -UFAL.
E-mail: neide-silva96@hotmail.com
3PhD in Biology from UFPE
E-mail: gusmao.diogenes@gmail.com
Coordinator of the Educational Sciences Course of Christian Business School