School inclusion: the perspective of mothers of students with Down Syndrome

Abstract

The research aimed to know the perception of the parents on the pertaining to school life of their child with Down syndrome. Its objective was to identify feelings, to know experiences and factors that contribute or make the process difficult, bringing in the problematic of inclusion in regular public system of Santa Maria, Rio Grande do Sul. A qualitative research, with five mothers, was carried through. The data collected in semistructuralized interview had been analyzed based on Bardin (2002). Three final categories had emerged: the search for the inclusion of the child with Down syndrome; the fragility of the inclusion in the regular education net; the contributions and difficulties of the inclusion process in regular schools. Results point that the disparities between what it is ranked as ideal and what it carries through in the practical way is seen by mothers as an inefficient and harmful process to the mental health of children. Disturbing experiences are provoked by the lack of observation of what can be found in the inclusive rank of laws and rules, making the mothers feel hurt, sadness, and frustration. The inclusion law shows that there’s an obligation in accepting all the children without distinction, however, it does not show the ways to make it possible, or how to include each context, taking into account its especificities, what makes each experience singular. A single solution is difficult to point out, since the school was constituted, and still remains, as an exculpatory institution. However, the task to include the child with Down syndrome passes for the commitment to discover and organize actions to solve, in an adequate way, the people’s expectations.