GAUTENANET

GAUTENA has always striven to promote and develop services for people suffering from autism in Gipuzkoa and their families, on the basis of a global vision, comparing our activities with those carried out in other regions and areas. Our open-doors policy means that we receive many visits from both state and European associations with whom we share, with no restrictions, all our know-how. Also, following the signing of the appropriate agreements, we host guest professionals with previous training, grant students, students engaging in work experience and staff on exchange from other programmes. These initiatives serve to contribute to the mutual knowledge that is an important source of enrichment for our sector.

Similarly, as far as possible, we also strive to participate in diverse initiatives of interest, such as the Haizea-Llevant Study, in collaboration with the San Juan de Dios Hospital in Barcelona, and Aspace and Atzegi in Gipuzkoa; the development of personal support programmes based on new technologies within the European ASILESP framework; and the compilation of cross-border training materials for ASD, within the EDUCAUTISME project. We also contribute, as one of the four selected European programmes, to the fieldwork carried out by the North American Psychiatric Association, which compiled the current DSM-IV diagnosis criteria for autism.

In the field of biomedical research, we have, in collaboration with the Gipuzkoa Polyclinic and the University of the Basque Country, recently initiated a joint study focusing on genetic susceptibility to autism, which has received funding from the Basque Government Health Department. To this end, our technicians have trained in the use of certain sophisticated clinical research instruments (ADI-R, ADOS-G) as well as with others (FHI) in a programme which links us to the University of Oxford, England. We have for many years now been innovating in the field of pharmacological treatment, compiling a Best Practice Guide called PHARMAUTISME for the administration of medicines, whose next edition will be published as part of a joint project with the North American University of Yale.

Similarly, GAUTENA professionals have participated in the Working Group on Autism set up by the Carlos III Institute of Health (http://iier.isciii.es), a key organisation within the Ministry of Health and Consumption. Its production of Best Practice Guides will help guide us all in our task of detecting, diagnosing, treating and researching autism.

Gautena maintains formal collaboration ties with other organisations in our field of activity. Thus, in addition to collaborating in key programmes in other countries, such as, for example, the British Autism Association, we maintain ongoing ties with the Basque Federation (FEVAS), the Spanish Confederation (FEAPS) and the Spanish Autism Confederation, among others. At this moment in time, we are working, among others, on the List of Services for people suffering from intellectual disability, in collaboration with the aforementioned entities and have, internally, improvement groups working on ethical aspects, quality of life and new information technologies.