Between 29/11 and 3/12, Unicamp's Autistic Collective (CAUCamp) and the Accessibility Advisory Committee of Unicamp's Executive Board of Human Rights (CAA/DeDH) held the first edition of the Training Day for Inclusion in Higher Education . With the theme "Pathways towards humanizing training", the event aims to discuss ways of approaching and humanizing the teaching of people with disabilities, in addition to creating educational policies that guarantee their access and permanence at university. Teachers and researchers from Unicamp and partner institutions dedicated to the topic take part in the journey. The seminars will be broadcast on DeDH channel on YouTube. The complete schedule and link to registration can be found at DeDH website.
The organizers of the Journey hope that the activities will draw attention to the behavioral changes necessary for the inclusion of people with disabilities. "It's a search for awareness, so that people understand that we are already in universities. The adaptations we need are aimed at humanized education, welcoming, the sensitive look of teachers. This is the type of adaptation we need, and We understand that they are positive for everyone at the university", explains Guilherme de Almeida, master in Education from Unicamp and coordinator of CAUCamp. Guilherme's experience as an autistic person working in academic and cultural circles exemplifies how much welcoming can make a difference in the potential of people with disabilities.
“Having the diagnosis was a turning point”
Graduated in Law in Paraná, since his adolescence Guilherme felt difficulties interacting with other people and discomfort with the excess stimuli around him. This led to him being diagnosed with depression by psychologists and psychiatrists who were following him. "As a child, the perspective we had of someone with autism was that they had some intellectual deficit. But I never had a deficit like that, on the contrary: people thought that my way of being could be explained because I was very intelligent. My strangeness was something of intelligent people", describes the researcher, who also suffered during his graduation, due to aspects specific to the legal profession, such as rhetoric and the power of interlocution.
When moving to Jundiaí and starting to work at the municipality's Department of Education, he was invited to attend, as a listener, subjects for the Master's in Education at Unicamp. Interested in deepening his knowledge in the area, he joined the program as a regular student the following year, developing research on the mediating role of families in the children's teaching process. It was during this period that Guilherme discovered that the discomfort was characteristic of mild autism.
The diagnostic process took more than a year. The suggestion came from the Student Psychological and Psychiatric Assistance Service (SAPPE). "Having the diagnosis was a turning point. When I understood what was happening to me, I realized that I had alternatives to regulate myself and not suffer anymore. Knowing what autism is and understanding that I am autistic helps me find ways to regulate how my body reacts so that I have more balance and can live more peacefully", says Guilherme.
Aware of his characteristics, he felt the desire to find other people who shared the same stories and needs. This is how CAUCamp, Unicamp’s Autistic Collective, emerged. Founded in July 2021, it has profiles on Instagram e Facebook to exchange information about autism, also promoting training and awareness activities. With a form sent to the entire university community, the collective identified 52 members of Unicamp, including students, teachers and staff, diagnosed with autism, in addition to another 70 under investigation. The group also maintains contacts with people interested in learning about autism so that they can promote inclusion within and outside the University: "More than a hundred people came to us reporting that family members had characteristics of autism. They wanted to participate in the collective and understand a little more about the board".
In addition to discussing issues related to the inclusion of autistic people in higher education, CAUCamp also aims to give visibility to this condition in adults. According to Guilherme, most of the social assistance policies aimed at autistic people are designed for children, and the condition remains for life. "The collective focuses on this audience, young people and adults, but we have members over 60 years old. It is a diverse audience that does not receive support in a systematic way. It is this void that we try to fill", he points out. The collective's first activity was carried out in October, in partnership with the Autistic Collective of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (CAUFRJ).
Knowing your own condition and having contact with other autistic people makes integration easier. Today, Guilherme develops activities that are important for his life. In addition to being a researcher and coordinator of CAUCamp, he is responsible for institutional relations at the National Institute for Research and Promotion of Human Rights (INPPDH) and cultural curator of Projeto Escuta, developed by the Instituto de Apoio à Orquestra Sinfônica do Paraná, which conducts interviews about music , art, culture and human rights. "It's a movement in which I can mediate, interact and feel in balance. This is important because it gives voice and autonomy to those who have this condition", he reflects.
For more welcoming and humanization
CAUCamp's quest for the inclusion of autistic people in higher education has the potential to benefit a wide variety of people, even those who do not live with any type of disability. According to Guilherme, the perspective of a humanized education, in which individual characteristics are respected in the learning process, already contributes to the well-being and inclusion of people with autism. "Autistic people do not require major structural changes. Our adaptations are focused on issues of acceptance and sensitivity on the part of teachers and staff", he points out. He cites simple measures, such as the possibility for autistic students to take tests in environments separate from others, where they are not exposed to many stimuli.
The reality of autistic students highlights the need to address the inclusion of people with disabilities in universities and other spaces, not only with regard to adaptations of physical environments and the provision of tools and resources. In addition to these elements, it is essential that there is a change in behavior among the people who make up the institutions. "Due to lack of knowledge, many teachers do not know how to deal with students with disabilities. They have not had the opportunity to have previous contact with these people. Autism is a more sensitive case, as it involves interpersonal contact", explains Núbia Bernardi, professor at the Faculty of Civil Engineering, Architecture and Urbanism (FECFAU) at Unicamp and president of the DeDH Accessibility Advisory Committee. In this process, she highlights the role of activities such as the 1st Inclusion Journey.
Núbia clarifies that, currently, the three public universities in São Paulo (Unicamp, USP and Unesp) and the Paula Souza Center are working to develop common inclusion and reception policies for people with disabilities, something similar to the Include Program, which promotes accessibility actions at federal universities. She also advocates that institutions anticipate the arrival of students with disabilities to make changes that guarantee inclusion in their spaces: "We need to know what barriers students with disabilities face, whether architectural, pedagogical or attitudinal. We have to remove these barriers to make the environment as universal as possible, regardless of the people who are living in it".
Service
I Training Journey for Inclusion in Higher Education: Paths towards Humanizing Training
From November 29st to December 3th
Subscriptions on https://www.sympla.com.br/i-jornada-formativa-para-inclusao-no-ensino-superior-percursos-para-uma-formacao-humanizadora__1400468
Broadcasts in https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKpZccZVqB-OTy1-Nmw2yDA
