Programa informativo sobre deficiência mental e inclusão: efeitos nas atitudes e concepções de crianças não-deficientes.
Abstract
In order to realize a real inclusion, besides politics, structural and educational aspects, it
is also essential to consider the subjective and relational aspects involved in the process.
The lack of information and daily contact among people without disabilities with
people with disabilities can contribute to the construction of preconception and
difficulties in the social interactions between both. The present research describes
conceptions and social attitudes of children without disabilities concerning mental
retardation and inclusion, and analyzes the effects of an informative program about
these aspects. The participants of this research were forty children from two the first
grade classrooms in one public elementary school localized in Marília, State of São
Paulo. One of the classrooms participated as a control group. Every child was submitted
to a pre and a post-test in the form of individual interviews about the issue. They also
participated in the application of childish scale on social attitudes in respect to the
inclusion. The experimental group participated in the informative program, composed of
thirteen weekly meetings of one hour and thirty minutes duration each in which it
were discussed limitations and possibilities of people with mental retardation,
specialized assistance, their scholarization and familiar and social aspects, utilizing a
variety of ludic and educational strategies. The data collected during the interviews
were categorized and analyzed in its content. From the scale, it was obtained individual
scores. Statistics calculations were realized to verify the significance of the differences
among groups. The results indicated that the informative program favored a higher
understanding of the mental retardation, including a more realistic view of the possible
limitations and abilities of people with disabilities as well as their needs of support
and the environment transformation. Moreover, the perception of similarities among
people with and without disabilities, social acceptance and favorable attitudes towards
inclusion increased. The results also indicated the necessity to develop research and
intervention about this issue along with the community, which leads to the construction
of more appropriate conceptions, attitudes, positive feelings and inclusion facilitators
since the childhood.