Avaliação de uma formação sobre o PECS e o PEI na inclusão de estudantes com Transtorno do Espectro do Autismo

Abstract

The increase in the number of enrollments of people with disabilities in Brazilian schools has generated doubts and concerns for teachers who deal with these students, with the lack of training and continuing education being one of the main reasons that hinder the process of school inclusion. Studies that seek to eliminate barriers for inclusion to be a reality in schools are important. This research has the general objective of developing, implementing and evaluating teacher training that can help eliminate barriers to the inclusion of students with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in a municipality in the interior of Mato Grosso do Sul (MS). The study is organized into two empirical chapters/articles. Study I is a cross-sectional and quantitative research, involving a quasi-experimental design among and among participants with pre- and post-test measures, carried out with the objective of developing and evaluating teacher training carried out in the municipality of Glória de Dourados – MS focusing on some phases of the Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS) for students with ASD. 14 teachers participated, 7 from special education (Experimental Group - EG) and 7 from other areas of education (Control Group - GC). The study was carried out in 4 stages: a) assessment of prior knowledge about PECS and PEI in the EG and CG; b) PECS training (phase I and II) with the GE; c) Assessment of knowledge about PECS and PEI after the intervention in the EG and CG; and d) Follow up, after 4 months of training in the EG. Study II, on the other hand, presents an exploratory and descriptive qualitative research with the objective of knowing the process of implementation of the Individualized Educational Plan (IEP) and PECS in students with ASD, whose participants were those of the EG of Study I. In Study II , a Focus Group and a documental analysis (of the PEIs, prepared by the teachers) were carried out, with a thematic analysis of the data obtained. When taken together, the main results of the research suggest that a) there was an increase in the mean number of correct answers in the knowledge questionnaire about PECS and PEI in the EG between the pre and post-test, remaining in the follow-up, and differences between the EG and the CG, in the two investigated moments; b) the implementation of some phases of PECS, linked to the objectives of the PEI, was relevant to improve the communication of students with ASD in the investigated municipality, with the process of implementing PECS and PEI being positively evaluated by the study participants.