Abstract

JIMENEZ, Diana Patricia  and  FLOREZ-ROMERO, Rita. ¿Reading and Literature as Rights? The case of intellectual disability. rev.fac.med. [online]. 2013, vol.61, n.2, pp.91-99. ISSN 0120-0011.

Antecedentes: Studies on school exclusion, national and international public policies around Reading as tool for human development, and research and programs with evidence of positive outcomes when Reading is used in children with intellectual disability. Objective: To describe the relationship between beliefs and practices in parents and librarians involved in reading promotion processes with children with intellectual disability, and the attitudes and interests shown by children with intellectual disability who participate in shared reading practices. Materials y methods: Beliefs and practices on Reading promotion in children with intellectual disability are explored in six (6) families who are served by an institution in therapeutic service and in inclusion in children with intellectual disability, and in four (4) librarians from three public libraries in Bogotá D.C., Colombia. Behaviors and attitudes to shared reading activities in six (6) children with intellectual disability who assisted to regular schools (with a mean age of 6) and who belongs to the families mentioned above were observed too. Results: Many parents have representations related to reading as decoding and not with reading as a mean of joy or comprehension, they only show their children to decoding activities and they do not participate in shared reading or reading promotion activities very often. Librarians do not recognize age or particular interests that characterize children with intellectual disability in their representation (strongly linked to medical-rehabilitation paradigm) and they have had few experiences with users having this condition, because this population has not been considered in many reading programs. Children with intellectual disability enjoy shared reading and that practice improves their learning and their participation in different environments like home or library. Conclusion: children with intellectual disability enjoy shared reading and activities that include them in Reading spaces like the library, but there are still some imaginaries or representations that limit their participation in these social spaces.

Keywords : Reading; intellectual disability; social discrimination; disabled children; social perception.

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