Psychopedagogical intervention with children with atypical development: symbolic play, letramento and introduction to the alphabetic system

Abstract The aim of this article is to discuss the process of introducing a child with atypical development – a severe form of Chromosome 22 Band q11.2 Duplication Syndrome (SDup22q11.2) – to the alphabetic system of the written Portuguese language, based on symbolic play and letramento during psycho-pedagogical support. The study is based on the premises of the Historical-Cultural Theory (HCT) of human psychic development, whose founder and main representative is Lev S. Vigotski; it is also based on the premises of Magda Soares on letramento and literacy. This is a qualitative case study. A 7-year-old girl with a severe form of the Syndrome, attending the second year of elementary school at a regular public school, took part in the research. Semi-structured interviews were carried out with the parents, the teacher and the student’s tutor, as well as a developmental survey with the participant at the beginning and end of the research process. During the research process, interventional activities were carried out on the constructs of play, letramento and alphabetization, inspired by Magda Soares’ book Alfaletrar. The analysis of the data showed that learning and development occurred to the extent that stimuli adapted to the participant’s developmental level were offered, as she moved from the manipulative play phase to symbolic play with emerging letramento and writing the first letter of her name. It can be concluded that learning occurs when intervention activities are intentional and meet the individual development of the subject.