Estereótipos e preconceito contra pessoas com transtorno do espectro autista

Abstract

The reality of people with disabilities is not easy. They suffer daily from prejudice that impacts their self-concept, self-esteem and the way they are seen socially. In this way, people with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) perceive their lives to be limited to categorizations and social stereotypes. Stereotypes and prejudices are still poorly researched topics in Brazil, especially when it comes to people with disabilities, especially those with autism. Such a reality reduces the understanding or leads to a distorted view of what a person on the autistic spectrum is, causing them to be perceived, many times, as aggressive, socially isolated and even incapable. Given this scenario, the objective of this dissertation was to investigate the relationship between stereotypes and prejudice about autism in undergraduate students. For that, a study was carried out with public university professors, being applied a questionnaire and a scale of prejudice against people with ASD. In order to analyze the data, Iramuteq software and SPSS were used. Participants showed inconsistencies in their statements, sometimes responding in a socially expected manner, sometimes with biases of prejudice. In addition, the importance of proximity to autistic people and its influence on the participants' views of prejudice was perceived. Another point observed was in relation to categorizations and stereotypes in relation to autism, which for the most part were negative.