At GAUTENA, we do not conceive supporting the person with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), without paying attention to his or her family environment. Family support should be considered throughout the whole life cycle and it should be modified accordingly. Thus, it will include the emotional support required at the time of diagnosis and the help and training needed by parents in order to understand and support their child, to guidance regarding community services and specific aid designed to facilitate cohabitation and adaptation.

Furthermore, families are, in the majority of the cases, the main care ‘providers’ for persons with ASD. These ‘resources’, of enormous value, are frequently overlooked by society. At GAUTENA we value their contributions and strive to provide them with the support they require, in order to enable them to reconcile their generous role with the normal life to which we all aspire.

¿How can you access this service?

From the moment a person is admitted to any of our services, their family is invited to access the family support service in the appropriate areas or activities. Similarly, any family participating in any of our programmes has the right to become a member of the Society, which in turn involves a number of rights and obligations. The family, or the professionals at GAUTENA, can draw attention to the need to consider certain support mechanisms. It is obviously the family itself which must formalise the request and their decision is never questioned by professionals. No one judges the support requirements perceived by another person. All families and people with ASD have very different interests, personal circumstances and support needs, and in consequence, the support provided must, in many cases, be offered either individually or in very small groups. In all cases we respect the individual nature of each family.

¿What do we aim to achieve with this service?

We strive to accompany families in their plans and aspirations, based on their own strengths and resources; respecting their individuality and responding to their needs in order to improve their quality of life and the well-being of each family member. We aim to respond to the needs and demands arising from having a family member with ASD; offering them the opportunity to share their experience with other families and helping them find answers to as yet unfilled demands.

¿How does the service work?

Our family support service develops seven programmes:

• WELCOME AND GUIDANCE PROGRAMME:
Designed to help families join the Society and provide guidance regarding all the possible help and resources which they are entitled to.
• INFORMATION AND TRAINING PROGRAMME:
Provides those supported by GAUTENA, their families and the population in general with information regarding resources, and means, in order to ensure a better use of programmes, services, initiatives and existing activities both inside and outside the Society; it also provides basic training aimed at ensuring efficient and enriching individual and family behaviour.
• MUTUAL SUPPORT PROGRAMME:
A set of activities aimed at helping families develop their own mutual support skills, strengthen ties with their extended family network and establish relations with the rest of the community.
• ATSEDEN PROGRAMME:
This is a support programme which provides support with short stays in diverse community resources such as hostels, farm-schools or family homes, with the aim of giving the families that usually look after them a short break. The programme has a large leisure component also, since, once the priority family aim has been achieved, our efforts focus on making the most of the leisure alternatives and opportunities offered by the break to clients with ASD.
• GERTU PROGRAMME:
Family intervention programme in which a professional works in the family home itself in order to enable the family members to handle behavioural challenges in a positive manner. The programme also aims to transfer all the skills acquired in other services (educational, leisure, day services, etc.) to the family home.
• LAGUNTZAILEA PROGRAMME:
Consists of providing personal support in situations of family crisis (illness, death, unforeseen needs…) or problems experienced if the persons with ASD themselves require more than the usual level of support, such as convalescence periods, hospitalisation, etc.
• VOLUNTARY WORK:
Programme which aims to attract and maintain volunteers for the Society’s various services and activities.

If you would like to find out more about us, please write to the following e-mail address apoyofamilias@gautena.org or call 943 215344. To find out more about autism and our services, visit http://www.gautena.org/