Vygotsky’s Defectology, Inclusion Policies in Santa Catarina and the Challenges of Child Medicalization

Public policies on school inclusion for children diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in Santa Catarina are discussed here based on Vygotsky’s studies on defectology. Our research is organized along four axes: a) the exponential growth of diagnoses in schools; b) the fragmented training of teachers (and those who work in special education); c) school organization and specialized care for children with reports in regular education and, d) excessive medicalization as a response to school difficulties. The discussions and results presented here refer to data produced from monitoring children with ASD reports in three public schools in different municipalities in Santa Catarina, as well as document analysis. Vygotsky problematizes the concepts of normality and abnormality, indicating that human development takes place in social, cultural and historical relationships, which consider the school to be a particularly potentiating environment for the humanization of man.