The present study aimed to identify conceptions of teachers who work in special education about learning and development of students with intellectual disabilities, seeking to ascertain how they comprehend this process, as well as their perceptions about the role of mediation in learning. The study was carried out in two Basic Education Special Education modality schools for students with intellectual disability (APAEs - Association of Parents and Friends of the Exceptional) located in the interior of the State of Paraná. The study involved the participation of eight teachers of the lower elementary grades, with four participants from each school. Data were collected using a semi-structured interview technique. The data were analyzed through content analysis. The main results showed that the research participants conceived that learning and development of students with disabilities occurs very slowly, which is to be expected because of their intellectual limitations. Furthermore, they considered that teacher mediation was not essentially significant to the student's learning and development. These results point to the fact that these teachers have developed a practice that is anchored on a segregationist view of students with disabilities, with reductionist conceptions that emphasize limitations at the expense of potential. For this reason, it is critical to rethink disability and schooling that is being offered to students with intellectual disabilities.
Special Education; Learning; Teaching Mediation; Intellectual Disability