work proposal  

work team

Our history begins in 1983. The disorder we are currently dealing with, actually in an engaged way, was totally unknown. The word Autism, devised by Leo Kanner and Hans Asperger in 1943 and 1944, was present only in the vocabulary of some psychologists and psychiatrists, and even so only in the expert ones' vocabulary. The Autism there has ever been. As said Uta Frith, "a disorder recently described is not necessarily a recent disorder". 
Doctor Raymond Rosenberg, a psychiatrist with a clinic in the city of São Paulo, had some clients that were in an anguished situation: they had 3-years old children  that had been diagnosed as Autistics. That was all the information those parents held: the name of the syndrome. There wasn't any research or treatment in the city, in the state or in the country that assisted those children, and  the things for exceptional children  weren't adequate for and/or didn't accept the Autistics. 
Henceforth these parents decided to join themselves to build a future that assisted their children and brought to them something else besides a boarding school, a baby-sitter, medication and total dependence and uselessness. 
They have founded the AMA - the Austitic's Friends Association (Associação dos Amigos do Autista, in Portuguese). After less than one year the AMA had already built a school. From that year on an unusual struggle had begun. Being occupied with the research on Austim and having the needy to assist, the charitable and non-profitable institution strove and has been striving until now to make ends meet. However, at the AMA's foundation period, there was the aggravation that nobody had heard about the disorder and so it happened to be very difficult to get funds for something that nobody had ever known. It was necessary a television campaign so as to people do not confuse AMA with the Artist's Friends Association, or the Alpinist's Friends Association, etc...  

Nowadays the situation is very different. The struggle is still hard, because each month there is the lack of funds to pay the wages, nothing to say of the researchs and  the courses. However Autism is no more a mysterious word, many people has embraced the cause and there is many associations like AMA all over the country. Regional and national meetings, courses and conferences were already organized. Foreign highly qualified professionals were brought to help to develop the work realized in Brazil.  
During this arduous journey the AMA was recognized as a public utility institution (Public Utilities: Local - Decree # 23.103 - 11/20/86 State - Decree # 26.189 - 11/06/86 Federal - D.O.U.06/24/91) and received from society many awards in acknowledgement of the work performed, like the "Bem Eficiente" Award from Kanitz & Associates.