A permanência de acadêmicos com deficiência visual na UFSM: desafios e possibilidades

Abstract

The present work aims to present the conditions of permanence that the Federal University of Santa Maria (UFSM) offers to visually impaired students during their formation in Higher Education. The study brings in its theoretical reference a brief historical retrospective of the challenges faced by people with disabilities, and especially of the visually impaired. It presents the definition of Blindness and Low Vision, addresses some social policies developed, based on laws, decrees and ordinances that support the right of people with disabilities in our country, regarding inclusion and permanence in Higher Education and the barriers faced by these subjects. The methodology adopted is a qualitative exploratory approach and used as a methodological procedure the case study. Data were collected through a semistructured interview script with academics from different UFSM courses, who presented visual impairment, with congenital causes, chosen according to the subjects' availability, at the time of the research. Data analysis was used to perform the data analysis. The results of this study demonstrated the need for more discussion about the conditions of permanence in the university, since although it included voices of some students, the sample is small compared to the number of visually impaired students regularly enrolled in this space, which indicates the accomplishment of new research that confronts these data, as well as the importance of listening to other UFSM segm ents that are directly or indirectly involved in the permanence of these students.