Autismo, terceiro setor e as políticas públicas de educação em Manaus-AM

Abstract

The thesis is linked to the Graduate Program in Education (PPGE) and was funded by the Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES). Education is a social right, a fundamental component of the universal rights of the human person. With regard to the right to inclusive, regular and public education for the target audience of special education, people with autism are guaranteed by the Brazilian legal system. From the growing demand for treatment and education for people with autism, there is a growing trend of Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) in Manaus that serve this public. Thus, the objective was to analyze the role of Civil Society Organizations aimed at people with Autism who work in Manaus, verifying whether the operationalization is in the clinical or educational model, in the light of Brazilian legislation. Outlined by the qualitative approach, it was based on the Dialectic Method of Marx (1977), permeated by the categories of totality, contradiction and mediation. As the locus of data collection, the research investigated five CSOs aimed at people with autism in the city of Manaus. For data collection, semi-structured interview scripts applied to the presidents of the participating institutions were used. For the analysis of the interviews, content analysis was used (BARDIN, 1977). The results and discussions of the data were organized into Sections, according to the Thematic Units: Legislation; Autism; CSOs. In the last section that deals with the role of institutions in Manaus, data discussions were organized according to the defined Analysis Categories: Creation; Developed activities; Relationship between institutions; Public/private partnership. The results showed that most assistance institutions for people with autism have been created by parents. The activities, on the other hand, are developed by multidisciplinary professionals with a therapeutic bias and carry with them the clinical and non-educational model. With regard to articulations between institutions, it was evident that organizations do not work together, even if their objectives are similar. Also noteworthy is the lack of ties between the CSOs and the Brazilian Association of Autism (ABRA), which constitutes, therefore, an exclusion from debates that have been taking place at national and local levels. As for the public/private partnership, for its financial maintenance, the institutions surveyed in this study sign agreements with different segments of the public sphere and participate in public notices for funding from State and Municipal Funds, as well as receiving parliamentary amendments. Thus, the problematized elements in this study made explicit the understanding that despite the punctuated questions, it is still necessary to consider that the involvement of these institutions in the construction of inclusive educational policies is an attitude of respect for the history and tradition of movements of struggle of families and of all those involved, and such collaboration is essential for advancing access to the right to education for the target public of Special Education in Brazil.