INTRODUCTION- In the Contemporary Dictionary of the Portuguese Language of Caldas Aulete (1964) we find, among others, under the RIGHTS heading the following meanings: "Something that is morally fair, that is righteous. A complex o laws or rules that directs men in society". Under the heading LAW we find "Prescription of sovereign authority, precept that emanates from the legislative power: all are equal before the law".
According to Caldas Aulete (1964), under the heading LEGISLATION we have the following meaning "the ensemble or body of laws in a country". The group of laws that regulate specifically certain subjects". In this way, we are able to understand the physically handicapped people's rights form a complex of laws that relate to the supporting of the handicapped and their social integration.
Through time, the legal documents that express the form by which the public powers establish their own conceptions, participation in social and educational responsibility about the physically handicapped, are diverse.
Since the beginning of Christian Era we have heard about the Justinian Code. From that time, there were attempts to protect the handicapped (whose laws were constantly ignored). However, only in 1866 when Langdon Down describes for the first time the "idiot mongolian" in the Mental Health Act, in Great Britain, that the first Handicapped Rights were defined (Krynski, 1969).
Almost twenty years later, in 1881, in Switzerland, an article of law was created in favor of the handicapped child. "The children of feeble spirit, must not be deferred from scholar obligations". (Machado de Almeida, 1971,p.13).
Since this time, when the General Declaration of the Organization of the United Nations (UN), few measures were taken in the direction of legislature towards these people. It was only in 1975, when the UN elaborated a new document that guaranteed handicapped people's rights, like others, that they had access to a common education.
"Handicapped people are assisted to the right as of any human being, and of having their human dignity respected. Problems of any nature or gravity that they might have, the handicapped have the same rights as their fellow citizens, of the same age, in which the right to enjoy a worthy and as normal as possible is supposed. (Declaration of Handicapped Rights, Resolution 3447 of UN, December third of 1975).
In Brazil, we have one of the most modern legislatures of the world, related to the handicapped people or people with special needs. In the fifth article of the Federative Constitution of Brazil: "all are equal according to the law, without any kind of distinction of any nature, it is guaranteed to any Brazilian or foreigner resident in the country the inviolabilidade of the right to life, to liberty, to equality, to safeness and to property". The article itself guarantees the rights to handicapped people as well.
"The constitution of 1988, in all its chapters about Citizen's Rights and Obligations of the State, does special mentions to the rights of the handicapped .The law 7.853 confirmed by the Congress in October of 1989 is dedicated totally to these rights". The Statute of the Child and Adolescent also assures the right to food, housing, medical assistance, education, leisure and special cares for the child and adolescent that are handicapped. (BRAZIL-DE-PAIVA, 1995,p.08).
The first time that we saw the right to education on behalf of the people with special needs guaranteed in Brazil was in the LBD, in the first chapter - Related to Education in the first and second-degree schools in Brazil. The students who represent the physical and mental disabilities, those who are in considerable delay according to their age or those in normal enrollment age and the gifted should receive special treatment, according to the rules established by the competent Educational Counsel"(EDLER CARVALHO, 1997,p.66).
The difference between the designation of "special" to "disabilities" and gifted that has also changed in the new LDB Law 9.394/96, which is now in use and changed these terms to "pupils who represent special needs"
The Federal Constitution, in the 208th article, III, disciplines the obligations of the State of "giving educational and specialized assistance to handicapped people, especially in public schools".
In Chapter II, Article four of Law number 7.853, of 24th of October of 1989, that has already been regulated, states that the Civil Society and the State should "assert that the handicapped is fully integrated in the social, economical and cultural context..." For this reason, public buildings and areas, transportation should be adapted to guarantee access by these people in their activities related to study, work and/or leisure.
All this "should" guarantee the absolute right to their basic rights, however, unfortunately its not as we hear happens. The question is: is all that being fulfilled?. The handicapped and their parents or the ones responsible for them are aware and have enough knowledge about these Rights?. Have the handicapped had opportunities to attend regular school?. The parents of children with cerebral palsy are enrolling their children in regular schools?. If they couldn't enroll, did they conform to this discrimination?. Did they try to fight that the Legislation supposedly guarantees them?. Of all these questions, this research project was elaborated that has as an objective verify what the mothers of children with cerebral palsy know (or think about) the rights of their children.
Cerebral palsy was considered in this work as a motor deficiency as a result of brain damage during the development process. It is characterized by the incorrect muscular coordination, as well as an alteration in the muscular consistence of greater o less importance. Cerebral palsy can also affect the motor behavior, speech, hearing among others (BRANDÃO, 1992). In order to attend this population, adaptation in buildings, using ramps, handrails, toilets are made necessary to provide access.
METHOD
The participants in this study were 40 mothers of children with cerebral palsy, from ages 30 to 39 (42,5%), with secondary school educational level (32,5%), with economic situations varying from 1 to 5 minimum wages (40%).
We used the following material and equipment to collect data a) video cassettes, pencils, paper; b) a Cassio Micro cassette recorder-TP 40.
A semi-structured interview instrument was elaborated that had two blocks. In the first block the items related to the identification of the particpants were organized. In the second block the questions related to the mothers and their knowledge of the law. Initially a a preliminary interview was organized and was applied as a pilot study to verify if it was a clear instrument. After the analysis and reestructure of this instrument, the definitive instrument was defined. This instrument was used to collect the data.
The interviews took place in (a) in the participant's houses , (b) in the schools. The data collection was made individually with the researcher and interviewee's participation. The interviews were written in cursive forms and recording was also realized as support for clarification.
For data analysis the answers were categorized and analyzed quantitatively and qualitatively.
The following categories appeared:
-Brazilian Constitution;
-Knowledge about children and adolescent
statute;
-Disabled rights;
-Rights to education;
-Mother's
knowledge about their children's rights;
-Attitudes to be taken.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
According to the answer of the people interviewed the following results were found:
- According to the knowledge of the Constitution - 06 (15%) of the
mothers declared to have no knowledge of the Constitution, and 34 (85%) of
them, the great majority declared to have some knowledge. Of these, none
demonstrated real knowledge of what the Constitution says. In their
declarations confusion is shown between what is written in the Constitution and
the great number of laws and edicts that rule a citizen's life, especially
related to the handicapped. The mothers have demonstrated that their knowledge
about the subject has been acquired through the means of communication, through
conversation with people who deal with disabled, among other sources. This
acquired knowledge is disseminated or understood in a mistaken form. In all
forms considered, knowledge is not disseminated so that their rights could be
claimed.
- According to the Statute of Child and Adolescent-07 (17, 5%) of
the mothers declared that they never heard of it and 33 (82,5%) of them
declared to have some knowledge. Of these, 15 (37,5%) declared not to
understand or to remember the Statute. As in the question above the mothers
have also demonstrated confusion and ignorance toward the Constitution and the
Statute.
- Related to the rights of the handicapped, 10 (25%) of the
mothers declared not knowing the PPD, and 30% (75%) of them- the great
majority-declared to have known these rights. In this questions the rights that
were most remembered were the ones related to retirement, transportation, to
school. Two mothers said that they didn't understand "nothing at all".
-
According to the rights of the handicapped related to education by the state-17
(42,5%) of the mothers declared that they have never heard of these rights and
23 (57,5%) said that they have already heard about those rights. The number of
people who have no knowledge is big, almost have of the total, that
demonstrates a great failure in all organs involved with the disabled in not
divulging the rights to this population.
- According to what the mothers
think of these rights 36 (90%) of them observe that the existing rights are not
fulfilled, 04 (10%) have the opinion that these rights should be equal to all
"normal and abnormal" people. It shows once more that the mothers feel confused
toward the fulfillment of the Obligations and their opinions about the subject.
- According to the attitudes to take related to this subject 05 (12,5%), of
the mothers do not know what kind of attitudes to take related to that matter,
19 (47%) of them think that attitudes should be the responsibility of a third
party: the government, the mayor, politicians, among others, 11 (27,5%) of them
think the parents of these children should come together and fight, 02 (5%)
think that individual consultation to the law systems give better results. "If
each one of us go after our rights the authorities will fell bothered and will
end up giving us our rights". 01 (2,5%) proposes change in government and 01
(2,5%) thinks that "no kinds of attitudes should be taken because they bring no
results". " It's not worthwhile to have attitudes, we have to be conformed and
fight, that's just that. We can't try to change things, not even gathering
people, I see a lot of them in public protests and nothing happens. I don't
await anything from society, no. These things, nobody is going to do anything.
They can write the laws but they are not obeyed.
FINAL CONSIDERATIONS
It was stated that, through all that was written before, that there is a great distortion of the mother's understanding about the real knowledge of their children's rights regarding the intellectual level of education of these mothers. They don't remember what is written in the Constitution. Without this knowledge, they cannot know what their Rights and Obligations are. The denunciation of the mothers towards the adequate form in which the information is organized in the Constitution, the Statute and other Laws and Decree was also registered. The great number of mothers that do not believe in Public Schools that complain about the discrimination that exists among the disabled in society, that reaches the schools. According to the attitudes that must be taken to reach this population's problems, the great majority of mothers think that thy should be taken by the Government and Politicians. The mothers don't see themselves as citizens that are able to fight for their own rights and of their children, that it is necessary to charge attitudes from their Governors and Politicians of the ruling law. Either they are aware or not, it is concluded that the great majority of mothers propose some attitude toward this matter. These proposal come from their individual problems and not by their own knowledge of the fact. It is concluded that the parents, the handicapped should have more knowledge the society in general that could be provided by lectures, educational campaigns in associations, in the media (written, oral and in television) so that it promotes greater conscience and consequently better charge of the rights of people who are disabled and who have special needs.
REFERENCES
BRANDÃO, J.S. (1992) Bases do tratamento por estimulação precoce da paralisia cerebral ou dismotria cerebral ontogenética. São Paulo: Mennon.
BRASIL. Constituição. (1988) Constituição: República Federativa do Brasil: Senado Federal. Brasília: Centro Gráfico.
BRAZIL-DE-PAIVA, C. M. (1995) Aspectos Históricos da Educação Especial no Brasil. São Carlos: UFSCar. (mimeo.)
CALDAS AULETE (1964) Dicionário Contemporâneo da Língua Portuguesa. Rio de Janeiro: Editora Delta S/A.
EDLES CARVALHO, Rosita. (1997) A Nova LDB e a Educação Especial. Rio de Janeiro: WVA.
KRYNSKI, S. et alli. (1961) Deficiência Mental. Rio de Janeiro: Atheneu.
ORGANIZAÇÃO DAS NAÇÕES UNIDAS-ONU. (1975) Declaração dos Direitos dos Deficientes. Resolução 3447 da ONU. Washington, ONU. (mimeo).
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