Universidade Federal de Santa Maria: um lugar para os surdos

Abstract

The changes which have occurred in our society, both in local and global scale, have demanded a discussion about issues concerning the inclusion and permanence of people with special needs, especially in undergraduate education where this demand has been expanding. The access and permanence of deaf students in Brazilian universities have made us to wonder whether the Federal University of Santa Maria (UFSM) constitutes a place for deaf individuals experience the academic knowledge. Therefore, the aim of this research is to analyze in which aspects the UFSM itself constitutes a place for a deaf student to experience the academic knowledge, by analyzing the deaf students´ path in the Institution since 1981 (when the first Deaf student enrolled) and what has been done so far to assure them their access and permanence. This study is based on an exploratory and qualitative research whose data were collected through semi-structured interviews with students and alumni of the UFSM, plus a narrative built on the author‟s own experiential data while working as a translator / interpreter of the Brazilian Signal Language at the Institution mentioned in the study. It is thought that the UFSM has become a pioneer institution concerning the accessibility of deaf subjects and has been working to include and maintain these students in its several courses, however it still needs to work in order to propose and implement public policies, where everyone involved in the teaching and learning process are invited to participate, to propose and to transform.