World Autism Day:
Who are you? The adult life of an autistic person
Text of Elena Santa Maria, Originally published in Democracy
Jesus opens the door with his toothbrush in his hand. “Who are you?” he asks on his way to the bathroom. “I am Jesus, the telephone operator. I love to answer the phone.” And before closing the bathroom door for good, he repeats “I am Jesus, the telephone operator.” Meanwhile, in the dining room, the others are finishing their meal.
Teachers and students eat together at the same tables.
In a moment, chaos breaks out: those who have finished go to watch TV, others to clean up the kitchen. At the table, only Jaime remains, who conscientiously pours oil on the plate until it fills the whole bottom. This ritual does not surprise anyone, he does it every day. With a smile, he takes a piece of bread and dips it into the plate.
The day center of the Aucavi Foundation ( Autism quality of life ) is “necessarily different from a school”, as defined by Agustín Ramos, president of the Foundation and director of the center. And it is different because they are working with adults. Agustín warns of the danger of infantilizing people with disabilities because they are dependent. Because, how you look at them is how they see themselves. That is why, at Aucavi they are clear that the support that the kids at their center need is a support for adult life .
Santi gives a guided tour of the centre. He has practice, the other day he showed it to the deputy mayor of Madrid, who paid them a visit. When he gets to the kitchen he serves the coffee; he puts it in a cup, takes the milk from the fridge and heats it in the microwave. On each piece of furniture there is a sign with what is inside. And not only in the kitchen, the whole centre is full of signs or pictograms of the activity that is carried out in each place. The tour continues: lounge, bathrooms, offices and training rooms. All the furniture is donated by offices. The premises are a loan from the Madrid City Council.
The Aucavi Foundation was founded in 2003. A group of teachers who at that time worked in a school specializing in autism decided to create this entity, with the commitment to offer a service at all stages of life. What started out as a small school is now two, the largest at a national level specific to autism. “The specialized care “It is the right platform for social inclusion for people with autism and intellectual disabilities” insists Agustín, with years of experience behind him. But children grow up and in 2016 the possibility of opening a day centre for adults arose. For now it offers a private service, although the centre is attached to the Community of Madrid and work is being done to offer public places.
Agustín is paying attention to everything. One of the boys, Nacho, is very nervous because he has not been able to control his anger. Now he is sorry and asks for forgiveness, but he is still nervous. Agustín suggests that the teachers help him draw what happened to him.
What does adult life consist of? An adult makes decisions based on their tastes, their abilities, their dreams. This is reflected in all areas: the workplace, leisure time, family life, relationships. Aucavi's work days are structured in such a way as to promote this decision-making. A good part of the mornings are dedicated to the area of social and work inclusion. Why is it not just work-related? Because the end in itself is not work-related development, but rather an excuse for social participation. Many people at the centre do not have and will not have the ability to enter the world of work with the level of demand that this implies. But they can. Participate in society . “We don’t want to be here just interacting with each other, we want to be part of society,” explains Agustín. Participating in the workplace also means actively participating, because you offer a service. And what kind of service? Not everyone does the same thing. Some go to Carrefour one day a week to place shelves. Others offer a telecafé service in the neighbourhood shops. Others, gardening. The reason is that not everyone likes the same thing. “We try to create an environment of opportunities where we can look at each person and offer them what they like.” These opportunities arise by looking at each person and asking them: “What would you like?”
Nacho is still nervous. He enters Agustín’s office and sits down at his desk. He doesn’t like being like this. “I’m behaving very badly,” he says. Agustín again suggests that he draw the scenes of what has happened. He does so immediately, although when he gets to the drawing of the solutions to the problem he doesn’t know what to draw.
He autism It is a disorder that affects social and communicative aspects. “When these aspects fail, we are left without tools. That is why it is so difficult for us to understand people with autism, and people with autism have a hard time understanding their environment,” describes the director of the center. But it is not an affective disorder, they are not people who do not like to feel loved and to love. They lack tools, but they like to establish relationships and participate in society. In that sense, the professionals who work with them are people with a vocation and an enormous moral demand.
In the end, Nacho decides to listen to some music and Agustín lets him tinker with his computer. When he calms down, he finishes his drawing and leaves the office. But not before blowing a kiss to the photo of Edurne Pasabán, who accompanied him on the La 2 programme “Capacitados” a few years ago.
In addition to the In the social and labour field , Aucavi works hard to promote health. Thus, physical exercise plays an essential role in their routine, always in gyms and public swimming pools. They also work on training, trying to prioritise the interests of each person. This afternoon, they have ICT training. When they are all seated to start, one of them feels the urge to go to the bathroom, another cannot find his tablet, a third one spills toothpaste on the table, which disgusts the person behind him. Finally, when they are ready, they learn to change their WhatsApp profile photo. It is a responsibility, a decision they have to make, what photo do I want to appear on my profile? And they decide.
"We - confesses Agustín - contribute a added value to society at the level of values”. It refers to looking for what is really important. “What is central in people’s lives, which in the end is the people themselves and not our work”.
Before the training is over, Jesús, the telephone operator, is already at the entrance organizing the pick-ups. “They have come to pick up Sara,” and he leaves. He comes back in: “They have come to pick up Jaime.” When they have already picked up everyone, he sends a voice note to his mother: “I’ll be right out.” He also sends her his location.
Xavier
April 21, 2019