Schooling of Students with Autism

ABSTRACT:

The inclusion of students with disabilities at school poses great challenges to educational policy. In the case of autism, communication and interaction difficulties add to the already existing barriers to the participation of students in the school setting. For this reason, in the present study, we proposed to investigate the autism schooling in a city in the state of São Paulo. We aimed at analyzing school access and stay of these students, and at characterizing the therapeutic and educational resources available to them. It is a descriptive study that analyzed data from the Basic Education Census of Atibaia between 2009 and 2012. The results show that the enrolment of students with autism is concentrated in public regular schools. Some of the students are enrolled in special schools. The study points, also, to the great number of students that evade the school system. In general, the schooling process of students with autism does not come to completion and few reach high school.

KEYWORDS:
Special Education; Schooling; Autism