Brazilian Sign Language in the training of municipal public servants in a city in the interior of São Paulo

Abstract

This article aimed to analyze the effects of a training course in Libras on a group of civil servants from different municipal sectors in a city in the interior of São Paulo, with a view to providing them with basic know ledge to offer a more qualified service to the deaf and mitigate the communicative barriers between them. It had as participants 37 public servants, in a work load of 30 hours counting on the presence of hearing professionals specialized in the are a and two deaf fluent in Libras. An initial questionnaire was applied to meet the demands of the employees and a final one on the self-assessment of their learning’s and expectations. The results showed that the majority considered the course of great importance and felt more prepared to offer the deaf a better quality of care, but there were also those who answered that they still felt a certain in security, requiring more time of practice and study to establish greater communication for mutual understanding. Regarding the training received, it was considered defective and in accordance with the importance of learning that language, at least basically, not only for in-service communication, but for social inclusion, high lighting the relationship established between theory and practice, at all times. , which provided a more critical and reflective training on the acquired knowledge. In the face of social inclusion, it is necessary to carry out training courses in Libras, since the linguistic condition of the deaf is carried out in the form of visual-spatial transmission instead of oral-auditory as in other people.