Creating an idioculture to promote the development of children with cerebral palsy

Abstract

This study presents the preliminary results of the adaptation of an educational system called the Fifth Dimension (5D), in which social interaction is a means for generalizing information and a basis for the development of skills beyond the constituent tasks. Originally created by Michael Cole - Laboratory for Comparative Human Cognition at the University of California at San Diego (UCSD) - this system was, for the first time, applied to a rehabilitation setting with children with brain injury, at the SARAH Network of Neurorehabilitation Hospitals, in Brazil. Undergraduate college students majoring in psychology and education participate in the program and interact with children who have cerebral palsy, engaging in playful/educational activities of collaborative learning. While interacting with the child, the student is encouraged to put formal theoretical concepts and personal experience into practice. In this article, we describe the changes made to the original program to adapt it to the rehabilitation setting as well as the artefacts that mediate the activity, necessary for the interaction and expression of the child with cerebral palsy. Also discussed and presented are the effects of the activity on the child's development - based on the parents' reports - and the impact on the learning process of the undergraduate students. The program opens alternative pathways for a reflection on, and education of, the child with brain injury, based on the development of individual potential, context and interests.