Inclusion in higher education: narratives of students with disabilities in the amazon context

Abstract

This article aims to highlight, from narratives of students with disabilities, the challenges and barriers faced in the inclusion process in higher education, in view of the fragility of the implementation of public policies that address their entry, permanence, learning and academic success. This is qualitative research, anchored in the History of Life methodology. It was used open interviews, involving students with disabilities from a public university, who live their academic experiences in different cities in the state of Amazonas. From the narratives emerged thematic categories that portray the educational trajectory for entry into higher education and questions related to accessibility, including mobility and displacement linked to the dynamics of the floods and ebbs of rivers that constitute the roads in the Amazon. Given the narratives of the students themselves, it was possible to show the barriers faced during the process of schooling, up to entry in the university. It became evident in the data produced the need for changes in the organizational culture of educational institutions. Because, despite the arsenal of guiding and legal documents, the struggle to implement the right to inclusive education is a reality that accompanies the schooling path of students with disabilities, in higher education as well.