Angelita Pinto

Language: Spanish

I am Angelita, an autistic individual with support level 1 since the age of 2. I am an autistic activist speaking from my own experience, which has allowed me to take my message to foundations in Colombia, raising awareness about autism and supporting young people and autistic adults in their process, as well as encouraging parents to be empathetic in their journey. I have spoken about the bullying I experienced during my childhood and into adulthood, including in my professional life, where I was called “retarded” and told to apply for a disability certificate in Colombia so that I would not be a burden in the workplace. In fact, at my last job with a company, my contract was terminated because they felt I wasn’t prepared to face the challenges of the company.

I share my experience through the process I am undergoing on Instagram @angelitaempoderando, where I provide tools I have learned so you can use them too.

I am also a member of the Conectando Corazones Foundation, Mundo Para Todos, and part of the AIDUA research group at the Universidad De La Sabana, where we work on issues of disability, accessibility, and universal design for learning. I am part of the autistic community, the director of DinoTribu—a project for autistic adolescents where we discuss various topics relevant to them. I am the mentor of 10 entrepreneurship projects led by children and young people with autism and ADHD from the 6 Sentido Foundation, where I teach topics related to entrepreneurship and social media presence, offering my work as a virtual assistant in content creation for social media. I also support the foundations I mentioned earlier, a dentist with a protocol for treating patients with autism, an autistic adult, and an optical clinic.