ABSTRACT
This article problematizes the tensions and contradictions of inclusive education confronted by the presence of children diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in common classrooms. It is based on the premise that the principles that guide Special Education policies from an inclusive perspective conflict with the social and educational project of Modernity, enhanced by exclusionary mechanisms established by contemporary neoliberalism. The text discusses fragments of a qualitative research that aimed to understand the challenges and possibilities of the inclusion and schooling processes of autistic students enrolled in the municipal education network of Santo André, São Paulo, Brazil. The analysis of documentary and field data obtained in a conversation with school administrators highlights the tensions and ambivalences generated in the confrontation between opposing epistemic, pedagogical and political perspectives.
KEYWORDS
Education policies; Inclusive Special Education; Schooling of students with ASD; School managers; Santo André; municipality