EDUCOMMUNICATION AGAINST DIGITAL COLONIALITY

PROTAGONISM AND MEDIA LITERACY OF PEOPLE WITH INTELLECTUAL DISABILITIES AT APAE SÃO LUÍS

Abstract

This article presents an experience report from APAE - São Luís on digital influencer workshops designed for people with intellectual disabilities, integrating communication, education, and digital inclusion as forms of resistance to the coloniality of information. The activities, carried out with students from the Eney Santana Specialized Educational Care Center (CAEE), aimed to promote media literacy, safe use of social networks, and participant protagonism. Drawing on authors such as Quijano, Freire, Mantoan, and Soares, the study engages with the principles of educommunication and inclusive education. The qualitative methodology included participant observation and the analysis of audiovisual records. The results show that the critical appropriation of digital media strengthened participants’ self-esteem, autonomy, and communicative citizenship. The experience indicates that educommunicative practices can help reduce structural ableism and digital exclusion, acting as emancipatory strategies within the fields of social work and popular communication.