NUNES, Leila Regina d'Oliveira de Paula; FERREIRA, Júlio Romero; MENDES, Enicéia Gonçalves    GLAT, Rosana. What do theses and dissertations reveal about language and communication of people with special needs?. []. , 10, 1, pp.27-38. ISSN 1413-389X.

A critical analysis of 356 master's theses and doctoral dissertations from graduate programs in Education and Psychology offered by 23 Brazilian universities about people with special needs revealed that 23% of these studies focused on the teaching-learning process. The sub-themes identified were: language/communication, educational practices/cognitive development, artistic, physical and sportive abilities, basic abilities, teacher-student interaction/class management. The thirty five research studies on language/communication presented in the paper have been founded on four theoretical approaches: Piagetian Constructivism, Vygotskian Social Interactionism, Experimental/Applied Behavior Analysis, and Phenomenology. The reviewed research studies offer an optimistic view of Special Education. Their data strongly demonstrate that people with special needs may acquire abilities, concepts, and aptitudes as long as special care is devoted to the conditions under which the teaching-learning processes occur. Such conditions involve not only appropriate materials and adequate instructional programming, but also improved teaching training programs and optimal educational institutions.

: graduate student productions; people with special needs; language.

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