Banca de QUALIFICAÇÃO: ELANNY DE OLIVEIRA

Welcoming textures: school meals as a path to inclusion for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Autism Spectrum Disorder; food selectivity; educational environment; eating practices.

School feeding is a fundamental part of promoting health and the inclusion of children in the educational environment. In the case of students with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), the presence of food selectivity, especially related to food texture, poses specific challenges that require technical preparation. In this context, the role of school lunch workers stands out as central agents in inclusive food care. Therefore, the objective of this project is to analyze the knowledge of school lunch workers about food selectivity and texture adaptation in meal preparation for children with ASD. The research will be conducted in public schools in the municipality of Brejo Santo – CE, adopting a mixed approach, predominantly. The Technological Technical Product (PTT) consists of a theoretical-practical and participatory workshop with school meal workers. The data will be collected and will involve two complementary stages: a quantitative one, which will use structured questionnaires with a Likert scale to assess the participants' level of knowledge before and after the intervention; and a qualitative one that will seek to understand perceptions, experiences, and training gaps through open-ended questions analyzed according to the framework of Discursive Practices (Spink, 1999). It is expected that the intervention will contribute to strengthening inclusive eating practices in the school environment. In the end, the material developed will be systematized as a replicable PTT, to be disseminated among public managers, educational institutions, and health services, expanding its impact on the territory and in public policies of food and school inclusion.