THE AUTIST IN MOTION: ANTI-ABLEIST PEDAGOGY AND AN ALTERNATIVE CURRICULUM

Abstract The article seeks to conceptualize the autistic person in motion in order to challenge ableist pedagogies and forge an alternative curriculum. It uses, as a guiding theme for this experimentation, the investigation of the provocative and inventive experiences of autistic children enrolled and regularly attending the early years of Elementary School in different institutions. It draws on various concepts from the perspective of curriculum theory based on the philosophy of difference, aiming at the invention of an open educational method connected to life. The research piece advocates the need to think of an anti-ableist teaching approach as a way of educating through resistance against the violence of discrimination and exclusion. It also values the opportunity to coexist and learn from the variability of bodies and diverse modes of existence, aligning itself with the discourse of inclusive education. The article interweaves episodes narrated through participant observation in basic education schools with elements from the 1999 Chinese film “Not One Less”, to establish connections with inclusion and to reflect on a curriculum that seeks to leave no one behind. The argument developed is that the anti-ableist pedagogy, and the inclusive curriculum it mobilizes, propel us on a journey to build and invent ways for everyone to be together in school, even in the face of fragility, adversity, and manifestations of exclusion. Keywords: autism; anti-ableism; curriculum