The education of deaf students is a prominent field of study mainly because providing inclusive schooling for a group of people that use a language that is different and specific to their needs is not an easy task. Considering that the Brazilian government has been active in trying to include everyone, without exception, to study hearing impairment in the Brazilian educational context means, necessarily, studying the inclusive education proposal and questioning the challenges and perspectives derived from this proposal. This study developed through a quantitative approach and its objective was to map and to determine the number students with hearing impairments enrolled at municipal and state elementary schools of a medium size city in the state of São Paulo, according to data from the Secretaria Municipal de Educação and the Diretoria de Ensino Estadual. These statistics do not conform to the information provided by Microdados do Censo Escolar da Educação Básica, available for the year 2010 from the Instituto Nacional de Estudos e Pesquisas Educacionais Anísio Teixeira (INEP). We argue that in order to provide appropriate policies for educating deaf students, it is necessary to know where these students are enrolled and how many there are. Whether at the municipal, state or national level, these data have not been considered. The study was conducted following two stages: a documentary stage and data analysis. There was wide discrepancy in the data coming from different sources that should have provided the same information. The inclusion of students with deafness in regular schools is a constant and permanent challenge. Therefore, this study aims to contribute to discussions in the field of Special Education, especially to studies related to deaf education, since providing quality education for these students is related to issues such as the number of enrollments. We consider that the data presented in this study is indicative of the way the issue of deaf education has been proposed, suggesting opportunities for revision and orientation regarding acknowledgment and registration of students, such as the deaf students that are enrolled in the public education system. This should contribute to better planning of actions related to including deaf students.
Deafness; Hearing Impairment; School Census
