the federal deputy Orlando Silva (PC do B-SP) called the Public Prosecutor’s Office of São Paulo asking that the Municipal Secretary of Education of the capital of São Paulo be investigated for editing a rule that prohibits the presence, in the classroom, of therapeutic companions for autistic people.
An orientation sent by the Pedagogical Coordination of the municipality to the teaching units this month states that the performance of therapeutic companions in the educational space “is not compatible with the purpose of education and with the assumptions that govern the Policy of Special Education in São Paulo from the Perspective of Inclusive Education “.
According to the agency, the presence of companions in schools would be exclusive, since it depends on the financial conditions of the student and their family members.
“The care of the therapeutic companion in educational spaces violates the principles of inclusive educationwhich aims to promote equal opportunities and the appreciation of human differences in all aspects”, says the Pedagogical Coordination of the Municipal Secretary of Education in a technical note.
For Deputy Orlando Silva, however, the guidance violates the law that established the National Policy for the Protection of the Rights of Persons with Autistic Spectrum Disorder. And he says that preventing the access of therapeutic companions in schools will harm these students.
“The referred communication puts the specialized teacher before the accompanying therapist, as if they were excluding, when, on the contrary, they are complementary”, says the parliamentarian in the representation. “In the present case, we have a mere orientation challenging the law guaranteeing the autistic student the right to be accompanied”, he continues.
The deputy also accuses the guidance of having a “discriminatory bias” and of violating “the principle of equity” by removing from students with autism the possibility of having a professional who can accompany them during classes.
Sought by the column, the São Paulo Municipal Department of Education states that assistance to the special education public already takes place through more than 4,000,000 professionals from different areas.
“There are still multidisciplinary teams made up of social workers, speech therapists and psychologists in each of the Regional Education Directorates and the 13 Inclusion Training and Monitoring Centers – CEFAI, which carry out monitoring and training for the school community”, he says, in a note.
“Students are also assured transportation between their residence and school, in addition to a set of activities and pedagogical resources to ensure accessibility, provided in a complementary or supplementary manner to school activities, such as, for example, multifunctional resource rooms” , ends.
REGISTERED
The Governor of Sao Paulo, Rodrigo Garcia (PSDB)and the secretary of Science, Research and Development in Health of the state, David Uipreceived guests such as the director of the Faculty of Medicine at USP, Eloisa Bonfaand the president of the Technological Research Institute, Liedi Bernucci, for the pre-launch of the documentary “Us Against the Virus”.
The event was held at Palácio dos Bandeirantes, in São Paulo, last week. The work is directed by Marcelo Poli and tells how the São Paulo Contingency Center faced the covid-19 pandemic —the state was the first in the country applying a dose of vaccine against the virus.
com BIANKA VIEIRA, KARINA MATIAS e MANOELLA SMITH
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