Traces of the first initiatives of deaf education in Brasília in the decade of 1960

Abstract

The first deaf education initiatives in Brasília date back to the decade of 1960 in some institutions maintained by the government and/or in schools of the Educational Foundation of the Federal District, of which, unfortunately, no documentation seems to have survived time. On the other hand, due to broader research in progress, some traces of those initiatives were located in news published in a local periodical, which have not yet received historiographical treatment by historians dedicated to the study of education in the federal capital. In view of the above, the present paper is aimed at investigating traces of these first initiatives of deaf education in Brasília based on publications of the newspaper Correio Braziliense in the decade of 1960. The conclusions point out that throughout virtually the entire decade, the Educational Foundation of Brasília was at the forefront of initiatives for the schooling of children with special needs, including deaf children. In educational terms, the educational model for deaf children was aimed at their oralization and “integration” into society through access to regular schools after a few years attending specialized schools.  A number of material and pedagogical investments were made in this sense, including the specialization of teachers to teach this group of students.