Abstract

MATSUKURA, Thelma Simões  and  CID, Maria Fernanda Barboza. Knowing the reality of older brothers of children with special needs. Rev. bras. educ. espec. [online]. 2004, vol.10, n.03, pp.355-370. ISSN 1413-6538.

Searching for a better comprehension of the dynamic and the process lived by families of children with special needs and considering that brothers and sisters as well as parents are involved in this reality, the objective of present study was to investigate the main aspects presented in the development and daily life of older brothers and sisters of children with special needs. Four children have participated, two males and two females, ages ranging from six to eleven, whose brothers and sisters had some special needs and their mothers and teachers as well. Semistructured interviews were carried out to collect the data. The data was analysed by transcribing the tape-recorded interviews and the contents were further grouped by selecting them in the most representative themes. These themes allowed the construction of Discourse of Collective Subject from each group of participants - child, mother and teacher. The results showed that children presented common characteristics such as: independency, maturity, good scholar performance besides, helping the brother with special needs in routine tasks and having friends. The results are discussed over the focus of children development and the familiar dynamic.

Keywords : Family; Brothers and Sisters; Children With Special Needs.

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