Memories and experiences of a migrant with disabilities in higher education in Brazil

Abstract

Higher Education in Brazil is developing actions to be increasingly inclusive. The presence of student diversity, the recognition of the need to prepare teachers, and research in this direction evidence some efforts that are being made. The central question that guides the research is: How does the university life of a deafblind and migrant student in Brazil unfold?. It aims to reflect on the gaze, analysis, and vision of a deafblind and migrant student in their entry, trajectory, and current situation in Higher Education in Brazil, based essentially on the narrative of their personal experience. Some legal frameworks and other theoretical assumptions about the inclusion of deafblind people are assumed. From a methodological point of view, it is based on the qualitative perspective with a focus on autobiographical narrative. Achievements, limitations, and segregations encountered during the pre-during, and post-pandemic period in their university life are shown. The narratives and events experienced conclude by recognizing advances in the inclusion of people with disabilities in the University, and learnings emerge that will lead to transforming certain practices of structural discrimination around people with disabilities, as well as giving voice to students in their training process.