BPC AND AUTISM: LEGAL AND SOCIAL CHALLENGES IN GRANTING THE BENEFIT IN THE FACE OF INCOME REQUIREMENTS

Abstract

This article analyzes the complex relationship between Autism Spectrum Disorder and access to the Continuous Benefit Payment, provided for in the Organic Law of Social Assistance. The article highlights that, although Law No. 12,764/2012 equated individuals with ASD with individuals with disabilities, guaranteeing them constitutional rights, in practice, many families face severe obstacles to obtaining the benefit. The main obstacle is the objective criterion of per capita family income, limited to 1/4 of the minimum wage, which disregards the high monthly costs of multidisciplinary therapies, medications, special nutrition, and the loss of income due to caregivers' absence from the labor market. Faced with this scenario, many families are forced to resort to legal action, since the INSS (National Institute of Social Security) strictly applies the legal criteria. Case law, however, has relativized this parameter, considering it merely a relative presumption of poverty, allowing social reports and documentary evidence to demonstrate the real vulnerability of families with autistic individuals. The article emphasizes the importance of this flexibility, based on the principles of human dignity and free judicial conviction, and highlights decisions by the Supreme Federal Court (STF), Superior Court of Justice (STJ), and Regional Federal Courts (TRFs) that recognize the need to include the extraordinary costs of autism in socioeconomic assessments. Thus, it concludes that, although the Brazilian legal framework recognizes the right of people with ASD to the BPC, the effectiveness of this right depends on adapting public policies and consolidating a more humane interpretation of the income criterion.