Práticas pedagógicas com crianças que apresentam o transtorno do espectro autista não verbal: um estudo de caso

Abstract

The doctoral research presented here investigated the use of symbolic resources in pedagogical practice as an element that can enhance the learning and development process of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Given the complexity involved in the education of children with this disorder, this thesis argues that the use of symbolic resources in pedagogical practice contributes to the child's learning and development process. Thus, it was analyzed how the use of symbolic resources can contribute to the learning process of children with ASD, considering the specificities inherent to the disorder. Regarding the specific objectives, it was sought to identify aspects of pedagogical practices that can enhance the child's learning and development processes through the use of symbols, to analyze the conceptions of both disability and pedagogical practice present in the discourses and practices of teachers and pedagogical practice in the guiding documents of the municipal education system(s), such as action plans, political-pedagogical projects, curricular proposals, among others. The empirical field of research was a municipal center of early childhood education of the municipal government of Vitória-ES that provides care to children from 0 to 6 years of age. Methodologically, it was resorted to the case study as a guide for the investigative path, semi-structured interviews and observation in context as data collection procedures. Based on these instruments, the systematization of data was continued through photographic records, records of observations in the field diary and documental research. For the theoretical basis of the study, the use the figurational sociological theory of Norbert Elias was chosen, who contributed to the analyzes supported by central concepts, such as “language”, “sociogenesis”, “psychogenesis” and “interdependence”. In this sense, it is important to highlight that Elias understands language as a social action, that is, it does not start from individual actions, being able to operate as a prototypical model of a social fact. In this way, it has a binding force, as it represents the existence of a speech that must be observed by the group of people, in order to maintain its communicative function. In this context, links were made between the case study and the Eliasian theory, in order to understand how the use of symbolic resources can contribute to the learning of children with non-verbal autism spectrum disorder. Research data reveal that the use of symbols in pedagogical practice collaborates in the learning process of children with ASD, considering the procedural nature of the construction of knowledge that is really “congruent” with reality.