FPDA – Federação Portuguesa de Autismo (Portuguese Federation for Autism) is a non-profit NGOPD (Non-Governmental Organization for People with Disabilities) registered nº48 under Portuguese law, which includes 13 NGOs all over the country (Portuguese Associations for people with autism) including Portuguese islands, Açores and Madeira. FPDA was founded in 2003 but replaced a national NGO that was founded in 1971 in Lisbon.
The member associations of FPDA are independent non-profit NGOs that work together on projects, courses, campaigns, and other activities. Their objectives, values, and principles are similar to those of FPDA: Inclusion, Non-discrimination, Solidarity, Representatively, Association, and Partnership. They support about three thousand persons with autism and their families, giving advice and promoting services.
The Mission of FPDA is to fight for the rights of people with autism and their families and represent its member associations near national and international organisations.
The objectives are:
- to support research on the aetiology, phenomenology, and therapeutics of the autism spectrum;
- to promote the education and training of persons with autism in order to their full inclusion in society; to give support and training to families;
- to improve the quality of life of persons with autism through the access to a proper diagnosis, early intervention, inclusive schooling, and education all through their lives and to promote employment and access to adequate housing.
- To reach these objectives FPDA organises services and promotes national and international projects of common interest to its associated members.
- Additionally, representing the Federation, the President of FPDA is a member of the:
- Council of Administration of Autism-Europe.
- Member of the board of the Confederation CODEM for people with mental disabilities and of CNOD, National Confederation of Disability Organizations.
- Member of the City Council of Lisbon for the Inclusion of People with Disabilities (CMIPD).
- Member of the Commission to accompany and evaluate the Resource Centres for Inclusion in Portuguese Schools (Ministry of Education).
- Member of the Observatory for Disability and Human Rights that is a non-governmental organisation that observes if Portugal puts into practice the clauses of the UN Convention on the rights of Persons with Disabilities.
- Member of the consultive council of the Portuguese Mechanism that monitors the implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities, the monitoring committee of the National Strategy for the Inclusion of People with Disabilities 2021-2025, of the Commission of the Politics of Inclusion of Peoples with Disabilities, of the Consultive Council of the Mission Structure for the Promotion of Accessibilities and of the working committee of Information Systems for the Citizen.
FPDA follows the rights presented in the Charter for Persons in the Autism Spectrum, approved by the European Parliament as a written Declaration (1996) and also the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, and approves and disseminates the Position papers of Autism-Europe.
FPDA is accredited through ISO 9001:2015 and is a partner of the Agency of Accreditation Qualiwork.
Presently, FPDA has a staff of 5 people, including one person with autism: a superior psychomotor rehabilitation technician, a psychologist, a sociologist, an administrative section chief, and an administrative secretary.
Contact
FPDA-Federação Portuguesa de Autismo
E. fpda@fpda.pt
W. www.fpda.pt