Frequently, the (re)habilitation services for individuals with disabilities in Brazil are provided in a disconneted and non-systematic way. The services vary according to the specific conditions of each region and depend highly on the initiative of the persons with disabilities and their families. Families struggle for assistence, but sometimes children with disabilities in some regions do not receive appropriate education and medical care. Usually, in Brazil, Special Schools are the only available option for children with severe developmental disabilities, most of them are private non-profit institutions. And, not too long ago, their major goals were essencially to provide daily care and social assistence rather than pedagogical activities. Moreover, most of those special education programs have no age limitation for providing services, therefore, they may assist children and adults as well. Interdisciplinary approaches to rehabilitation are found in a small number of rehabilitation centers in some large cities of the country.
The public policies on Special Education have been changing in the country due to the growing debate on integration of children with special needs in the regular school system. Specially in Paraná, where new guidelines for inclusion have been recently stablished reflecting the worldwide movement for inclusive schools.
The importance of family participation for effective educational results is widely accepted, however, there is a paucity of programs in which families are really a part of the process. As in many countries (Mazurek & Winzer, 1994), the participation of families during the schooling process is seen as a valuable strategy for achiving pedagogical goals, but such participation is seldom observed. Actually, although the role of the families as efficient advocates for the civil rights of their members with special needs is recognized and they are the major allied in the search for creating an inclusive society, professionals tend to exclude them from the decision making and planning process. There is not a clear policy to guarantee that families will be listened during the planning nor the development of activities.
The families, specially those that are already excluded by society due to low income and lack of formal education, occupy a passive role: they are simply told what to do by professionals who, most of the times, don't listen to them. The relationship families usually build with the institutions is based in a distant respect for their knownledge and unquestionable decisions. Professionals expect them to "cooperate" with the instructions but scarcely give positive feedbacks about families' innitiatives and students improvements. There are only a few opportunities for exchanging information but they are not systematic.
The studies that have focused the influence of the family group in the development of children with disabilities pointed out to the need to provide continuous family support in order to promote a healthy family reestructuring after the child with special needs is borned (Amiraliam,1986, Vash, 1981). Most of the families in this situation in Brazil do not find such a support: the health system as the educational system lack this kind of service.
This article aims to show an extention project in a community special school in order to create strategies to promote family participation in the educational program.
Method
The Community Special School is a traditional institution for persons with severe developmental and cognitive disabilities in the city of Curitiba, Paraná, which is undergoing a series of changes in its political-pedagogical project in order to follow the concept of inclusion. This school has a social worker, a school counselor, a physical therapist, a neurologist working part time, and also, a program coordinator and 22 specialized teachers and instructors working with groups of no more than 7 students during four hours daily. There are a total of 68 students varying from 7 to 24 years old. The project covered a series of activities during 1999:
Results
The average of parents presence during the meeting was 30. It was noticed a slight increase in the number of parents attending the last meetings. Also the parents started to participate in the planning of the last 3 meetings. The teachers began to feel more empathy for the families and communication became more frequent. The parents showed more interest about the pedagogical work done in the classrooms and were willing to help doing some activities at home. The staff evaluated the project as successful and continued to organize the activities. The author after discussions with some parents and the staff, believes that other activities can still be done to improve the participation of families: review the day/time of meetings, develop a journal with various information about school activities, community services and "parent's tips", invite parents to participate of a day of classroom activities. The creation of a environment were changes in the traditional school procedures by allowing debates among the professionals and the presence of different professionals to complement the teachers work were assets that allowed the achievements of the project.
Finally, it is by creating new alternatives for family support and exchanging experiences with families that schools will empower families to advocate for an Inclusive Society.
References
Amiralian, M. L. T. M. (1986). Psicologia do Excepcional. São Paulo: EPU.
Mazurek, K., Winzer, M. A. (1994). Comparative Studies in Special Education. Washington, D.C.: Gallaudet University.
Vash, C. L. (1981) The Psychology of Disability. New York: Springer.
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