Meaningful experiences in reading and writing have a major role in constituting subjects who see themselves as readers and authors. Early on, deaf children generally have little participation in social practices related to writing, which puts them at a disadvantage in relation to their expectations and hypotheses about this mode. Considering that children have their first contact with this language modality in the family and that the role of the school is to teach writing in its full diversity, this study aims to analyze and discuss literacy practices encountered at the home and school environments of a group of deaf children. The study was conducted with 12 teachers from regular schools and 12 parents, centering on deaf students who were registered at the Centro de Atendimento Especializado em Surdez (CAES), an in-service program in a neighbor city in the metropolitan area of Curitiba, Paraná. Interviews were conducted with the parents focusing on aspects related to reading practices at home. Questionnaires (with open and closed questions) were used to collect data with the teachers, focusing on written language practices in the classroom. Results show that reading and writing practices are quite limited in the family environment. This raises issues about how deaf children are (or are not) being immersed in the world of writing in order to constitute themselves as literate beings. Likewise, in school environments, reading and writing practices are still mainly conducted using textbooks, revealing a lack of diversity in the kinds of written material that makes its way into the classroom.
Special Education; deafness; literacy; family; regular school
