PEDAGOGICAL CARE TO INTELLECTUALLY DISABLED ELDERS AND THEIR FAMILIES DURING THE PANDEMIC

Abstract

This paper presents the experience report on the pedagogical service by the Manoel Boaventura Feijó Institute, maintained by the APAE (Parents‌ ‌and‌ ‌Friends‌ ‌of‌ People ‌with‌ Special‌ ‌Needs‌ ‌Association) in Florianópolis, to aging people with intellectual disabilities and their families, during social distancing because of the new Coronavirus pandemic. The pedagogical practice applied to 98 adults with intellectual disabilities (men and women) aged between 24 and 90 years, who are in the aging process, and/or the elderly who attend the APAE and their caregiving families. These were organized into 14 pedagogical groups on WhatsApp, along with their teacher in charge. We seek to motivate interventions mediated and guided by the natural functional curriculum. Because of the emerging need imposed by the pandemic, both education professionals and families needed to adapt and learn to explore this new form of pedagogical action through technology. To reach as many people as possible, we adapted the service to an online version, where we use posts (illustrative materials of the activity), educational videos (with step-by-step instructions), and video calls via WhatsApp, providing a space for discussion, learning, and exchange of experiences. We understand that the pedagogical work with the use of technology enabled the intervention of education professionals, along with the group study, showing families the possibilities of acquiring and maintaining skills, as well as helping to keep them active even at home and in social isolation.