Intervenção mediacional na aprendizagem do braille: um estudo com crianças deficientes visuais

This study aimed to construct and evaluate a proposed mediational intervention with preschool children through reading workshops and writing in Braille system. The proposal is based on the concepts of Vygotsky on defectology and approach to the Mediated Learning Experience (MLE) developed by Feuerstein. For the research were drawn up ten Mediational workshops, in which they developed a work by reading a children's story and from her reading activities and writing in Braille system. The workshops took place within in kindergarten room of the institution. Study participants were four blind children, six and seven years in an institution that assists visually impaired people in the city of Uberaba / MG, and their mothers and the teacher responsible for the room in which they study. During the workshops, the children showed interest in participating in the activities of reading and writing in Braille. We believe that the data built during the research are not sufficient to establish a generalization, due to the small number of participants. However, at the end of the workshops and the assessment of participants' responses can infer the relevance of the proposal, because in addition to the interest shown and the request of the children there were more activities like that, it was noticed greater fluency in reading and greater ease in writing.

Intervenção mediacional e hábitos alimentares: um estudo de crianças com síndrome de Down

The inadequacy about eating habits have been established as a serious problem nowadays. It is a multifactorial and difficult to handle, given their different nuances and causes. A population particularly exposed to the bad eating habits arising harm are individuals with Down syndrome, both with regard to the aspects inherent to the individual's own condition, regarding eating misfits, making it the weight control a necessary measure for a proper development. Thus, this study aimed to develop and evaluate a proposal based nutrition education from the assumptions of mediated learning, with children three to four years with Down syndrome. The participants were five children, four girls and a boy. Also included his parents and / or guardians. The data collection procedure involved the use of eight playful workshops with children and nutritional evaluation of those five meetings with parents and three home visits with each participating family. We tried to build with these children and their families a nutritional education to contribute to their daily choices of eating. Using listening, observation and questionnaire, besides playful interventions, it was observed that the first meaning of the act of eating is built in the family and reinforced by their social life. Overall, our sample characteristics seem to agree with the literature. During the intervention, the children showed attention, but little understanding of the content. With mothers, the results were different, with reflections on the inadequate power both the type of food offered, and quantity and so this offer is performed, conducted along the interventions changes in your lifestyle, such as perception of influence they had on their children in the formation of their eating habits, as well as less frequent intake of soft drinks and sweets. Nutritional interventions and mediations conducted with the mothers is that they seem to be effective strategies to combat obesity. Face of what was discussed, we see the importance of implementing intervention measures in combating and preventing overweight or obese since childhood, particularly with children with Down syndrome. One should prevent childhood obesity with educational and informative measures from birth, with family and with each child, through the primary health care and schools.

Percepção ambiental como ferramenta diagnóstica para o processo de integração entre uma unidade de conservação e a comunidade do entorno

It is remarkable the current planet’s situation of degradation and modification of natural assets and the considerable loss of the recovery power inherent to the ecosystems. Concomitant with this, all communities and species are suffering the consequences of these changes without planning. The creation of conservation units (UCs) through the National System of Conservation Units (SNUC) was a concrete action on the deliberateness of halting these processes, which, on the other hand, generated socio-environmental, geo-economical and cultural-political conflict of interests between traditional communities in the vicinity of these units, institutions, governmental entities and society in general. The country’s National Program of Environmental Education (ProNEA) provides the integration of the communities and UCs’ managers in a co-participative administration to solve these conflicts. The principles of Environmental Education (EA) leads the methodology found to change the socio-educational paradigms of traditional teaching, still existing in our society and intrinsically related to environmental problems, which are contrary to the dialogic pedagogy from Paulo Freire, that valorize popular knowledge, pro-active citizenship, as well as contrary to Ecopedagogy, that re-integrate human being on its natural environment, the Earth. One of the tools for starting environmental sensitization is the diagnosis by environmental perception of individuals. In this context, the objective of our work was to identify the environmental perception of Tenda do Moreno community located nearby Pau Furado State Park (PEPF) in Uberlândia – MG. To reach this objective, the research sought, in a first moment, to evaluate the environmental perception of residents of this community through semi-structured interviews applied in their homes and, in a second moment, we evaluated the environmental perception of community’ school students and made Environmental Education intervention activities with the intention to make children aware of the importance of conservation and function of PEPF. Using the Content analysis methodology, we found in nearly 60% of the 118 residents a systemic perception of nature, while approximately 32% expressed an anthropocentric perception. Mixed perceptions were found in 21%. A considerable part of the residents (47 individuals) indicated not knowing the park, although many of them recognize its importance. Among the 46 interviewed students, half expressed an anthropocentric perception of nature, while almost 36% had a systemic view. Seventeen children said they did not know the park and almost half of the students recognize some aspect of the importance of its existence. During the intervention activities, we had huge participation and dedication of students, beyond the massive expression of their personal views and daily experiences. In relation to the ten students that subjected the second evaluation about their environmental perception after the intervention, 80% showed systemic perception and emphasized the importance of conservation and of park. We believe that the continuity of the intervention activities could generate positive perspectives of socio-environmental effective changes in the daily school. Activities lead by Ecopedagogy and that encourage the citizen leadership in the young students are fundamental, while in the community, closer ties and dialog by UC’s managers would be important elements to generate effective change.

Associação entre comprometimento motor, mobilidade e qualidade de vida em crianças com paralisia cerebral espástica, nível I, II e III do Gross Motor Function Classification System

The objective of this study was to verify the association between some mobility items of the International Classification Functionality (ICF), with the evaluations Gross Motor Function Measure (GMFM-88), 1-minute walk test (1MWT) and if the motor impairment influences the quality of life in children with Cerebral Palsy (PC), by using the Paediatric Quality of Life Inventory (PedsQL 4.0 versions for children and parents). The study included 22 children with cerebral palsy spastic, classified in levels I, II, and III on the Gross Motor Function Classification System (GMFCS), with age group of 9.9 years old. Among those who have participated, seven of them were level I, eight of them were level II and seven of them were level III. All of the children and teenagers were rated by using check list ICF (mobility item), GMFM-88, 1-minute walk test and PedsQL 4.0 questionnaires for children and parents. It was observed a strong correlation between GMFM-88 with check list ICF (mobility item), but moderate correlation between GMFM-88 and 1-minute walk test (1MWT). It was also moderate the correlation between the walking test and the check list ICF (mobility item). The correlation between PedsQl 4.0 questionnaires for children and parents was weak, as well as the correlation of both with GMFM, ICF (mobility item) and the walking test. The lack of interrelation between physical function tests and quality of life, indicates that, regardless of the severity of the motor impairment and the difficulty with mobility, children and teenagers suffering of PC spastic, functional level I, II and III GMFCS and their parents have a varied opinion regarding the perception of well being and life satisfaction.