MÃOS QUE FALAM, BONECOS QUE SENTEM: A EXPRESSIVIDADE DO TEATRO DE ANIMAÇÃO COMO PONTE COM O ESTUDANTE COM O TRANSTORNO DO ESPECTRO AUTISTA (TEA)

Abstract

This study investigates the glove puppet as a pedagogical tool mediating the socioemotional development of students with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in the context of public schools, considering the challenges faced by educational institutions in implementing inclusive practices sensitive to the unique needs of these students. The research aims to understand how aesthetic experiences with glove puppets can favor processes of communication, emotional expression, social interaction, and the construction of affective bonds in the school context. The research adopts a qualitative approach, based on bibliographic research and an interventional case study, developed at the Lilásia Lobão Marques Municipal School, located in the municipality of União, state of Piauí, with two elementary school students as participants. The central methodological procedure consisted of conducting eight workshops, structured around activities of awareness-raising, creation, puppet manipulation, improvisation, and narrative development, articulated with the practices of art education from an inclusive perspective. Data production occurred through participant observation, the researcher's logbook, photographic records, pedagogical monitoring sheets, and semistructured interviews conducted with teachers and family members of the participating students. The results showed significant advances in verbal and non-verbal communication processes, expansion of social interactions, greater engagement in pedagogical activities, strengthening of listening and shared attention, as well as the development of emotional self-regulation. It is concluded that puppet theatre, understood as an artistic language within the field of Art, is configured as an object of knowledge that articulates content and pedagogical methodologies aimed at the socioemotional development of students with ASD, contributing to the construction of inclusive practices and to the strengthening of communication, expression, interaction and humanization processes in educational relationships within the context of public schools.