As contribuições dos mapas mentais para a alfabetização cartográfica de aluno com TEA.

Abstract

Currently, the participation of students with disabilities is growing progressively in Brazilian schools. This increase is due to constant social and political pressure in search of the universalization of the right to education. Among such enrollments it is also possible to notice a significant number of students diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). ASD is a highly variable neurological disorder, both in symptoms and intensity. The characteristics of ASD mean that the presence of an autistic student in the classroom demands an even more attentive and sensitive attitude from the teacher, regardless of the subject he or she teaches. This complexity also makes teaching Geography challenging, especially when students still need to be cartographically literate. Cartographic literacy is fundamental for the students, among them the autistic ones, to know, organize and dominate the space, as well as to understand the contents related to Geography. Thus, this research, classified as descriptive-qualitative, presented as main objective to analyze if the mental maps can contribute to the cartographic literacy of a student with ASD. Considering the complexity surrounding the theme of this study, that is, the cartographic literacy of an autistic student, it was decided to conduct a single case study. The results of this study demonstrated that the use of the mind map allowed the student to advance in the understanding of space, and that the teacher could follow these advances through the mind map itself. Thus, besides being an efficient resource for cartographic literacy, the mind map helps in the continuous evaluation of the students.