TESTIMONIALS

“In my opinion, the work that has been done with ‘Diogo’ is very positive; without this team I don’t know what would have become of our lives… He shows that he likes coming here and he has come a long way in every respect. He used not even to move around the house without his mother and, obviously, he never left the house alone. Nowadays he goes out on his own, visits his aunt and uncle without me needing to go with him, goes into cafés, goes to the supermarket and chooses the things he wants, pays – all things that used to be unthinkable for ‘Diogo’. I find him more self-assured, a more open teenager, even socialising… It has been one step at a time, slowly, so that we don’t fall, but we have seen progress day by day, even at school. I notice he is more enthusiastic, especially now that school is coming to an end and he is about to start a work placement in an area he likes. That makes me more relaxed and happy, because I know he is happy.

However, what I see outside the Association is that society is not prepared to welcome children and adolescents with ASD – but the problem exists and we have to find solutions! This is a recommendation I leave to all parents: don’t be ashamed to ask for help and to seek out other people with similar problems, don’t try to hide it, and believe that with the right help and support we can overcome many difficulties and go much further! With the Association I learned how important relationships with others are for all of us, for our development and learning. I learned to enter ‘Diogo’s’ world and understand him better; now it is easier to interact with him and bring him into reality.”

Followed for about 6 years

Father of Diogo, an 18-year-old with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)

“The Association has done exceptional work and the results are visible, starting with the reduction in ‘Nuno’s’ aggressiveness. His understanding is also very different, and we see many results even academically: he had abandoned his master’s thesis, but with the team’s support he managed to go back to it and now he has his master’s degree! For a long time he had no life plan, and now he talks about it, thanks to this team’s work. With the Rita Leal School I see that my son has a great opportunity to leave the family environment and experience life situations in a different way.”

Followed for about 2 years

Father of Nuno, a 24-year-old with ASD

“We had always found it hard to find someone who understood our son. Most of the places we went to only wanted to medicate him, and the psychologists we saw were constantly trying to impose rules on ‘Roberto’, but they didn’t see that we didn’t know how to communicate with ‘Roberto’ in order to set rules. It couldn’t work that way; they never taught us how to do it, and they didn’t do the work that is done at the Association. Here I feel they know how to talk to ‘Roberto’ and get to know his ideas. They focus on him and not so much on what they think ‘Roberto’ should do and how he should behave, although they are also preparing both us and him to live in the outside world, in society. Finding professionals who care about my son and his interests has been very important to us, because they bring us in, show us exactly what they are doing with him in the therapy sessions, and also teach and advise us. They are transparent, relational and human; they work in a different way, a way that works… My greatest regret is that we didn’t find this place when our son was younger… Now I feel that ‘Roberto’ is calmer and better able to explain what he feels, and when he gets frustrated and angry it no longer takes him so long to realise that we are trying to understand him and that, if he stops for a moment, he can explain to us what is going on. Now I can talk to him, and he listens to us more, copes better with relationships with others and accepts criticism better – before, this interaction was impossible… Now we no longer have to do everything for him, because he accepts that some tasks are his; in that sense, he is more independent.”

Followed for about 2 years

Mother of Roberto, a 16-year-old with ASD

“The team that has been working with ‘Tiago’ has done extraordinary work, especially in terms of the relationship we have been able to build with him. A few years ago we didn’t even exist for him. He had his own world. The moment he needed to relate to other people was a victory. This team does not create routines; instead it focuses on each child individually and designs a personalised treatment. Another major strength is that they also work with the parents. For a long time we had sessions with our children in which we were filmed so that they could then correct our mistakes, and in this way we learned to communicate better with our children… At the last summer edition of the Rita Leal School, ‘Tiago’ went up to the lifeguard because he wanted to go surfing. And that is phenomenal!”

Followed for about 7 years

Father of Tiago, a 10-year-old child with ASD

“Our experience with the Association has been very positive; we have seen great progress in ‘Beatriz’. She had been followed by other psychologists in Lisbon, but we didn’t see much progress with the professionals there. What struck us most here was all the work they do with both children and families – genuine inclusion work, where ‘Beatriz’ plays and learns with other children with and without ASD. We are very pleased with the progress we have been seeing: she is much more communicative and is starting to show a little of her personality. Before, she was very obedient, but in a mechanical way; now she is more alive: she says what she does or doesn’t want to do. Curiously, some parents might see ‘Beatriz’s’ calmness and obedience as desirable, but it was a “rotten”, “empty”, lifeless calm… Here we also see examples of other children who have been coming for longer, which fills us with expectation and hope that she will be able to progress as much as the others and become independent. The first time ‘Beatriz’ went to the Rita Leal School, last summer, we were both apprehensive and happy: apprehensive because we didn’t know how she would react to sleeping away from home without her parents; happy because in the end it was all a pleasant surprise – she spent several days with other children and with the team, who integrated her very well. It was very positive and I greatly appreciate the team’s work. I know it isn’t easy to manage a group of children like ‘Beatriz’ for so many days, so I was impressed by what I saw when I was there – how the team gave themselves body and soul so that the Rita Leal School is a fruitful extension of the therapeutic space of ‘Beatriz’s’ weekly sessions. The Rita Leal School is like “shock therapy”, where the shock is life itself – the intense relationship fostered with peers and with the team. No one is left out and everyone learns. I saw that after the Rita Leal School ‘Beatriz’ made a leap forward; she came back a little different, happier and more cheerful.”

I come from Lisbon to Coimbra every week so that ‘Beatriz’ can have individual play therapy sessions with the Association’s psychologists. I make this effort because I realised that in the other sessions ‘Beatriz’ had in Lisbon, the professionals only tried to get her to learn how to do things, but it didn’t work very well because, as I learned, a step before the cognitive aspects was missing – which is what ‘Beatriz’ works on most here: the more affective, relational aspects that make cognitive learning possible and easier. They don’t try to force the whole cognitive side, which was a bit what we were also trying to do with her at home. Fortunately, the Association offers us parental supervision sessions, which are fantastic – I had never seen this anywhere. By filming our interaction with ‘Beatriz’ and discussing the videos, we learn how to react to certain situations in ways that would not otherwise be possible. These supervision and counselling sessions have greatly changed the way we relate to and understand ‘Beatriz’. We have been able to clear up all our doubts and have learned to meet her where she is. I keep coming every week because I trust the team’s work and I hope that, with this support, ‘Beatriz’ will have a better future.”

Followed for about 2 years

Father of Beatriz, an 8-year-old child with ASD

“The APPsiRH supervised the work of the emotional support helpline, part of the SOS Estudante project in which I was involved. I discovered a taboo-free approach to life, emotions, human experience and mental health in general. It was enriching for the project I was involved in, but it was also interesting to see it reflected in my personal life.”

Student, 26 years old

“It was the cornerstone that enabled me to do good work. The years I worked in the field were based on the teachings I received and felt, and I know I was a good professional.”

Special Education Teacher, 31 years old

“I took a training course with APPsiRH which helped me to grow as a human being and as an educator/teacher.”

Teacher, 35 years old

“With APPsiRH I had a positive and enriching experience. Through clinical case supervision, I improved my knowledge of clinical practice and neuropsychology.”

Psychologist, 39 years old

“At the beginning of a career, when we have to leave the books behind and act in the reality of the field, there are many doubts that haunt the professional. I was no different! I was just lucky to find this institution on my path, which helped me become stronger, more aware and more confident in my professional practice. And how vital that is…! Feeling that we can count on the support and respect of a team of experienced and competent colleagues, whenever we need it, is an immense treasure for any psychologist who seeks excellence in their work.”

Psychologist, 39 years old