"I left behind my backpack, my guilt, and my self-imposed demands. Now I dedicate myself to taking care of myself and trying to help others."

On February 16, the third session of the series"Training to understand disability"took place at the University of Navarra Museum. It was organized by Tantaka, the academic center's Solidarity Time Bank, in partnership the Iddeas Foundation.

In a discussion paper degree scroll ,000 meters without degree scroll , degree scroll Vanesa Almeida, a sailor and mountaineer with high-functioning autism, accompanied by Amaya Núñez, a psychologist specializing in neurodiversity from the association Autismassociation , shared her story of overcoming adversity with the audience.

The session was very enriching, with a speaker experiences autism firsthand and an expert in the field of autism spectrum disorder. Both taught us the importance of learning about this subject and showed us that, with effort, knowledge preparation, a person with autism can achieve anything they set their mind to.

Vanesa Almeida was diagnosed around the age of 40. As she explained, her diagnosis was late because "I ironed out everything I saw that people didn't like about me, like a kind of mask, so that my autism wouldn't show. I perfected it so much that now it's no longer grade, so I had to undergo exhaustive tests to detect it." In this regard, she said that she ended up leaving behind this "burden, guilt, and self-imposed demands," and that her goal , in addition to taking care of herself, is "to try to help others so that detection occurs earlier, because that way there is less pain and suffering": "My goal to help families and make the journey easier for others."

Her project 8,000 meters without barriers"was born when she was diagnosed with autism: "That's when a fierce passion for mountaineering began to emerge in me." With regard to the world of sailing, a discipline which she is well known, she points out that simply saying she has autism can change other people's perceptions.

Vanesa's diagnosis is autism spectrum disorder, subject . As Amaya Núñez explained, this level "is associated with neurotypical intellectual ability and would be considered to require less support." However, she reiterates that, although subject is sometimes referred subject ," subject also has its complications.

In this regard, Almeida shared the breakdowns that people with autism suffer: "Although it occurs naturally in humans, in autism it works differently, because it is more frequent and activates more quickly." In his case, he says that he has tools to manage them and that with them he can recover in 30 minutes. However, as psychologist Núñez pointed out, "just like people, there are infinite ways to have meltdowns, so the most important thing is to ask about each person's needs."

During the session, she also discussed her role as a mother and how important this was in reaching her diagnosis: "Being an autistic mother is the hardest thing I've ever faced, even harder than Olympic training or running the 8000 meters. But my children are the best thing that could have happened to me, especially because I knew something was wrong with me and they encouraged me to continue my search. I believe that the better my condition is, the better I will be able to raise them."

The last session of the series, "The inclusive leap: design cinema, design will be held on Monday, February 23. Miguel Ángel Font, director inclusive cinema, will share his methodology in the field of audiovisual culture with attendees.