Mosaic Therapy Collective in Santa Barbara is helping the Central Coast change the stigma around autism
SANTA BARBARA, Calif. -- Non-profit organization Mosaic Therapy Collective in Santa Barbara is helping people across the Central Coast change the stigma around autism.
MTC says they focus on empowering therapists with affordable space for therapy sessions while collaboratng and building community relationships.
Today MTC offered a free web seminar for parents, caregivers and medical professionals to discuss neurodiversity.
Founders Sharon Macdonald and Caitlin Downie say they became passionate about changing the stigma around autism during graduate school.
“We were using a lot of this language and these practices that just didn't feel right. They felt dehumanizing. It didn't feel productive. And so this shift that we're seeing happen in our fields and just in the neurodiversity community is at large. I think this is finally something that I can stand behind and feels right," said Downie.
Macdonald says they are working on breaking barriers to offer more resources, classes and financial assistance to provide accessible therapy to all.
“That's the big piece, I think, with with neurodiverse affirming awareness. It's it's teaching empathy. It's teaching holding space and making space for, for people with disabilities. And it's creating a more equitable and more inclusive society," said Macdonald.
Speech language pathologist Hana Lumley says autistic people want to be accepted and respected as part of society.
“This framework and this approach just provide so much more understanding and humanizes people rather than behaviorism as that's what we're all passionate about, is helping or being partnering with our clients and their families to build bridges to connection and understanding, even if our ways of communicating that are experiencing the world looks different and that's what like progressives and diversity is. And that's what being human is, is embracing differences and learning how to coexist together and learn from each other. You know, that's how we move forward," said Lumley.
MTC is working to offer the community the diagnosis, resources and practices they need to live to their full potential.
