PLAYING IN THE INCLUSION OF STUDENTS WITH AUTISTIC SPECTRUM DISORDER (ASD) IN SCHOOL PHYSICAL EDUCATION IN THE EARLY YEARS OF ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
Playing, Physical Education, Autism Spectrum Disorder, Inclusion, Elementary Education.
This study discusses playing in Physical Education classes and the inclusion of students with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Its general objective is to investigate how playing contributes to the inclusion of these students in the Early Years of Elementary School during Physical Education classes. In this sense, our specific objectives were to observe the behavior, interactions and performance of activities by children with ASD during Physical Education classes; to identify how their creative and authorial processes are manifested through play; and also to analyze how they play and how they relate to each other through play within the school context. The target audience of the study are two 9-year-old children with ASD, students in a 3rd grade class of Elementary School. The analyses and discussions of the results were carried out by the authors themselves, supported by their theoretical framework. The pedagogical strategies used during the study were: planning and implementing a teaching unit that respected the content proposed by the National Common Curricular Base (BNCC), discussions with the class about the themes, activities produced by the students themselves during Physical Education classes, and interviews with students with ASD. The products we obtained were a field diary with the perceptions gained in each meeting, photographic records, and transcripts of the interviews conducted with the students. Through the analyses, we identified that the inclusion of children with ASD occurs through play and the relationships provided by play, exploration of spaces, objects, and the entire world around them.