Organizações de e para pessoas com deficiência no município de São Carlos – SP : tecendo fios de histórias, conquistas e desafios

Abstract

As a result of the military regime, Brazil was the stage for the different protagonists of civil society and its social movements, fighting for democratisation of the country and by the exercise of citizenship. People with disabilities were not alien to these processes and were important characters in this context of redemocratization of the country struggles for social rights, civil and political rights, in addition to the search for social visibility and autonomy in driving the own path of life. These movements also occurred in a scenario of institutions for rehabilitation of philanthropic and other associations while spaces of coexistence and solidarity and support to deal with issues relating to disability. When considering the social movements of people with disabilities and their organizations as important interlocutors of social control, for the construction of alternatives for assistance and struggle for rights, this study aimed to identify how they have acted in the conquest and exercise of human rights organizations, associations and groups of and for people with disabilities, present in São Carlos, SP. In addition, we sought to recognize what is the contribution of occupational therapists, inserted in these organizations in the conquest of the rights of persons with disabilities. Participated of the study a group of parents, two NGOs, three associations, a Pastoral and the Municipal Council of the disabled person. In the development of the research, semistructured interviews with the coordinators and presidents, in order to identify the organizations, the services and actions developed; the participant observation of some meetings, meetings and assemblies and documental research of the conferences in the sector of municipal education, health and social assistance and the Statute, folders and primers, produced by the organizations, as well as the laws and decrees prevailing in municipal and national scope. Also it was performed a punctual interview with occupational therapists, with the purpose of analyzing the role of the profession in this scenario of struggles and construction of assistance. The methods were supported by roadmaps and by the field diary. The records were guided by conceptions of the health area on the social control and the theoretical assumptions of Hannah Arendt on private and public space and the political action of individuals. The data were organized in two major categories of analysis: the trajectory of the movement to fight for the rights of people with disabilities in São Carlos, SP and the Council of the Rights of the person with disabilities in regional scenario, and the respective subcategories. It was found a potential of entities in the provision of services, by the provision of assistive technology and conquest of social rights. However, there is a fragile network of articulation between them and with other equipment and social institutions, for the development of collective actions and the exercise of social control. In addition, social and political participation of people with disabilities is also weakened or nonexistent. Many of them still remain in the private space of their homes and without access to essential rights.