Alba, 14 years old, begins special education by her own decision after years of discomfort and rejection at the ordinary school, despite her diagnosis of mild autism and without intellectual disability.
The first signs appeared when Alba was about a year old, but her family did not get an autism diagnosis until she was three and a half years old, after several consultations in Girona and Barcelona. Her mother, Montse, recounts that during that time they perceived that something was not right and they could not find a clear answer.
The distance between early alerts and clinical confirmation marked the girl’s journey. Alba, who is now fourteen and a half years old and will start third year of ESO next term in a special education center, has reached that change after years of emotional distress and social rejection in mainstream school despite having a diagnosis of autism grade 1, considered mild, and without intellectual disability.
Montse summarizes the start of the process like this: “We knew something wasn’t right, but nobody listened to us”.
The diagnosis arrived after consultations in Girona and Barcelona
The first assessments were carried out by private professionals in Girona and by the CDIAP. In that first circuit, a psychologist initially ruled out autism.
Before Alba entered P3, the family also went to a specialized center in Barcelona linked to the Sant Joan de Déu Hospital of Barcelona and to a private neuropediatrician. The disorder did not appear in the evaluations then either.
The confirmation arrived at three and a half years old, when a psychologist expert in autism linked to the Sant Joan de Déu Hospital in Barcelona reviewed the case. As the family explains, that professional conveyed a phrase to them that changed the interpretation of the entire previous journey.
“If you hadn’t come, you would still be going in circles” – autism expert psychologist linked to the Hospital Sant Joan de Déu de Barcelona
The family maintains that, if in addition to social difficulties there had not been language delays and developmental problems, the identification of the disorder would have been further delayed.
Alba asked to leave the ordinary center after years of discomfort
At fourteen and a half years old, Alba will start third year of ESO in a special education center at her own request. The decision came after years of emotional distress and social rejection at the mainstream school.
Montse describes an environment with very limited support. At school there was only one caretaker for the entire center and a single special education teacher for all students.
Alba’s case fits into the so-called autism in women, a form of presentation in which many girls go unnoticed because they resort to social imitation strategies that mask their real social comprehension difficulties.
That profile, combined with a grade 1 diagnosis and the absence of intellectual disability, did not prevent the discomfort from ultimately weighing more than the clinical label. Access to the special education center was justified by the intensity of that discomfort and by behavioral difficulties.
A year ago, moreover, the situation had consequences in family life. Montse links the couple’s separation to the accumulated wear and tear during the entire process and recalls that they lived together for years with difficult situations.
In her assessment of the lack of educational fit, Montse states that “children who are left in limbo usually end up arriving here”.