We want to share information developed by autistic people, for autistic people. A lot of theories were developed on what autism was by non-autistic people, not from the perspective of the autistic people themselves. Instead of focusing on normalizing the autistic person, we focus on developing independent living and improving quality of life, with information and support that worked for others in the community. For that, we try to increase the sense of community within Portugal.
We have free support groups every other weekends, for autistic people, and for family members and therapists. Each meeting has a theme, where you can ask questions or share your experience. Sometimes we also have small informal meetings to just talk or meeting other autistic people.
We want to gather and process data on Autism in Portugal. All children eventually become adults, and we need to understand how to improve lifelong support. We develop questionnaires about the quality of life of autistic adults, employability, education, food selectivity, among others, based on the most recent international studies, to understand the needs of autistic people in Portugal.
Many of the studies carried out in the past have focused on curing or normalizing autistic behavior. In recent years, the scientific community has started to include adults and autistic children in research development, to ensure that we are able to address what iss really needed. We support scientific studies that are focus on the autistic perspective, and the increase in their well-being. If you are autistic and designated woman at birth, you can help, at the moment, with the study “Female Burden”, that you can enter know more about it below:
One of the most common characteristics in autistic people is atypical sensory sensitivity to certain external stimuli. When we talk about accessibility, we talk a lot about physical accessibility to buildings, but we rarely talk about sensory inclusion, and ensuring that autistic people are able to access public places and establishments to guarantee the independent life and quality of life they deserve. We consult on sensory inclusion programs. If you want to talk to us about accessibility and sensory inclusion in your business, contact us at geral@vozdoautista.pt
We partner with international and national autistic activists, thier families, organizations, the scientific community and experts in the field, to translate and expand information and international projects that can help autistic people in Portugal. If you are interested in partnering with us, please contact us at geral@vozdoautista.pt
For autistic people, sex education needs to be more than the mechanics of sex. It should be about flirting, developing healthy relationships, safe sex, hypersensitivity during sex, consent and bodily autonomy. Adults with autism or a learning disability need safe places to ask honest and open questions. We are currently preparing free online webinars on the following topics:
Consent, Personal boundaries in different types of relationships, Dating and flirting, Sexual orientation and gender identity, How to develop relationships, Healthy versus abusive relationships, Alexithymia and identifying feelings and desires, Teaching how to respect ourselves, and others, Puberty and social dynamics , Inappropriate behaviors, Masturbation and self-regulation.
If you are interested in organizing any of our trainings, please contact geral@vozdoautista.pt.
We are also available to develop customized training according to your needs and training tim
We develop training of public response teams, such as emergency services, police, or other authorities who are in contact with the public, to know how to act in an emergency and descalate situations, in a safe way for the autistic person.