Knowledge production about specialized institutions for persons with intellectual disabilities (1996-2015)

Abstract

The present paper analyses the scientific academic production about specialized institutions for persons with intellectual disabilities in format of theses and dissertations available at the Brazilian Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations (BDTD) from the Brazilian Institute of Information in Science and Technology (IBICT). This is a qualitative and quantitative study, and a bibliometric, methodological and content analysis approach, done in three steps: theoretical and methodological preparation; data collection and registration; summary and analysis of results. The results showed the existence of 18 works about the researched subject, with a majority with a master’s degree, between the years of 1996 and 2015. The studies belong to 9 different Higher Education Institutions, most of them located in the Southeast Region, with a significant participation of the Mackenzie Presbyterian University (Mackenzie) and the Federal University of São Carlos (UFSCar) through their corresponding Development Disorders and Special Education graduate programs. These papers mainly deal with subjects such as the person with disability’s quality of life and the education for life and work, developed within the specialized institutions. Predominate qualitative approaches with qualitatives of behavioral theory, based on instruments such as interviews and scales. Therefore, the mapping of researches demonstrates that few works used their own specialized institutions for persons with intellectual disability as an object of study even though these works contemplate issues like health, work, education and assistance. However, we do not find researches that problematizes, among others aspects: the role of special schools assumed by the institutions; the right to schooling of the disabled person; the public-private relationship that constitutes the offer of services of philanthropic and non-public nature.