Students With Learning Disabilities in the Brazilian Juvenile Justice System

Abstract

This article describes the Brazilian juvenile justice system and the educational rights of incarcerated adolescents with learning disabilities, to discuss how and why they are “invisible” and deprived of adequate treatment for their specific needs. The main reasons reside (a) in the complex national legal structure of the juvenile justice system; (b) in the lack of specific legislation concerning the rights of students with learning disabilities in general and of incarcerated adolescents in particular, both groups not eligible for special education services; and (c) the general difficulty to diagnose learning disabilities, especially in correctional facilities. Paradoxically, despite the complexity of the juvenile justice system legal organization, nationally, there is no specific law on education for incarcerated adolescents; moreover, the lack of data collection on the prevalence of learning disabilities does not allow the federated states to create suitable laws and programs.