Between Diagnosis and Inclusion: Myelomeningocele from the Perspective of the Subjectivity of Absence

a mielomeningocele na perspectiva da subjetividade da ausência

Abstract

Myelomeningocele (MMC) is a type of congenital malformation of the spine and spinal cord that can cause various physical, motor, sensory, and cognitive sequelae, significantly impacting the social and school life of the person with a disability. Advances in neurosurgery, pediatrics, physiotherapy, and other areas of health have enabled children with MMC sequelae to be enrolled in the regular education system, calling on education professionals to understand not only the specificities of the disability but also the social, historical, and subjective challenges that permeate the school inclusion process. This study aims to reflect on myelomeningocele from the perspective of the subjectivity of absence, problematizing the ways in which disability, diagnosis, and socially produced discourses can reduce the subject to their physical limitation and the diagnosis they carry. This is a bibliographic research based on authors who discuss school inclusion, disability, subjectivity, and processes of social exclusion. Research indicates that, beyond the comorbidities and sequelae imposed by MMC (Multiple Musculoskeletal Disorders), it is necessary to understand that many people with disabilities have historically had their identities constructed from absence and incompleteness. In this context, school inclusion needs to enable students with disabilities to be recognized in their singularities, potential, and unique forms of social participation. It concludes that promoting true inclusion implies breaking with practices that reduce the individual to their diagnosis, valuing the construction of more humane, welcoming educational practices committed to the emancipation of people with disabilities.