+RuralTEA, transcending the barriers of autism

To tell you more about autism in rural areas, we would like to introduce you to some the people it affects: a 6-year-old girl who lives in a village of under 4,000 inhabitants in the province of Albacete; an 18-year-old Galician girl in her last phase of high school who is afraid to face the new school year; and an adult who is unable to get to his painting classes, his only passion, by public transport, and who dreams of getting his driver’s license.

These three people do not know each other, but they have all been diagnosed with ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder) and share the challenges of interacting in a context in which, usually due to lack of knowledge, they are discriminated against. They also share their integration problems and the need for their environment to understand their autistic mind, with its strengths and challenges. They are among the 74,700 people with autism that, according to estimates by the Confederación Autismo España, could currently reside in rural areas.

To understand the difficulties faced by people with ASD in rural Spain, we must also talk about silence, about not calling things by their name, about invisibility. The families of people with autism fear labels and social rejection; that is why this article does not name any of our stars.

They are all are part of +RuralTEA, the project coordinated by the Confederación Autismo España which is co-financed by the European Social Fund Plus and Fundación MAPFRE through the +Rural Grants.

This initiative seeks to find solutions for autistic people living in rural communities, far from specialized services. Aware that each case is unique, specialists from the ten associations that make up the Confederación Autismo España and that are involved in this project go to each home, normally via town councils and social services, to recommend specific actions that may provide a solution to their individual issues. It is a task that requires time for detection, reflection, implementation, assessment and starting over. And, of course, there is the human dimension, letting all these families know that they are not alone.

Here are some examples that will help us to understand the work of the specialists who collaborate in +RuralTEA. At our girl’s school in Albacete, an awareness day was organized to help the people around her understand her better. After this event, her family found that the girl was relieved to feel a sense of identity. They themselves realized that things can be changed. Also, in Galicia, an initiative is being organized at the school of our young student to provide two educators with guidelines and protocols for action.

This door-to-door, case-by-case work involving families, teachers, social services and town councils is the key to changing attitudes towards ASD. Although different studies confirm that people in rural areas are diagnosed with autism later, there are no specialized services or these are far away, and the level of awareness of ASD is low, the actions that are being carried out thanks to +RuralTEA show that, in many cases, small communities are more receptive to awareness and sensitization. It may be difficult to break down walls, but once they are breached, there is a collaborative network that makes the reach of each action even greater.

Thanks to the +Rural Grants, the +RuralTEA project is now active in Catalonia, Galicia, Murcia, Valencia, Castile and León, Castile-La Mancha, and Andalusia. In 2025, it will reach new communities and families who are waiting for the support they so desperately need.

Our goal is to integrate people with autism living in rural Spain, transcending physical and social barriers.