Processos de inclusão de alunos autistas no ensino superior: a construção de um grupo de discussão

Abstract

The present research studies the context of Autism and Higher Education, as part of the area of Special Education. This was motivated by the need for an emancipatory and inclusive education, searching for ways to confront the various attempts at exclusion. At the university level, autistic people face many challenges in academic life on a daily basis. However, studies show that the construction of groups constitutes a device that can bring about significant changes in this scenario. Therefore, the aim of the work was to analyze the conditions of access and permanence of autistic students in Higher Education, based on the construction of a discussion group. Epistemologically, we seek a dialogue with Bakhtin's ideas, articulating his theoretical contributions to a social perspective of studies on autism, in education. Methodologically, the work characterizes as collaborative-critical action research. The research was carried out between March 2023 and March 2024, at the Federal University of Sergipe (UFS), and included the participation of 15 (fifteen) autistic students enrolled in undergraduate and postgraduate programs. We sought to learn about the institution's inclusion policies and build a discussion group with autistic students, consolidating collaborative work. 14 (fourteen) meetings were held with the group, namely: 1 (one) initial meeting, 12 (twelve) discussion meetings, and 1 (one) evaluation meeting. The data from these moments were the key and central piece of the work, corresponding to the audio recordings, which were analyzed using Dialogical Discourse Analysis, from the Bakhtinian perspective. As results, the following stand out: the inclusion actions proposed by the university are insufficient to meet the demands of autistic students; autistic students constantly face situations of emotional and psychological suffering, due to the demands of academic life; there is a lack of understanding among teachers and classmates about the spectrum, which is marked by stigmas; the difficulty of diagnosis, considering that the majority of participating students were only diagnosed in adulthood; among others. It was possible to conclude that the discussion group contributed significantly to the lives of these people at our university, welcoming and building bonds, sharing difficulties and experiences, recognition among peers, better understanding of comorbidities, knowledge of oneself and peers, and seeking social experiences in other spaces. Finally, we highlight the need to consolidate new inclusion policies and actions in the context of Higher Education, which also meet the specificities of autistic students, as well as highlighting the need for more in-depth and articulated to other social segments of groups that historically also face situations of exclusion.