Tanya's Journey Across Europe for Autism Advocacy and Inclusive Education

Welcome to Why Not Me the World? Podcast hosted by
Tony Mantor, broadcasting from Music City, USA, Nashville, Tennessee. Join
us as our guests tell us their stories. Some will
make you laugh, some will make you cry. Real life
people who will inspire and show that you are not
alone in this world. Hopefully you gain more awareness, acceptance,
and a better understanding for autism around the world. Hi,
I'm Tony Mantor. Welcome to Why Not Me the World? Today.
I am joined by Tanya and her niece Dara, who
share their remarkable journey from Bulgaria across Europe, culminating in
their relocation to Belgium with her artistic sun Radi. They
initially reached out to me via Instagram to share their
experiences traveling across Europe while listening to my podcast. It's
an absolute pleasure to have them as a guest on
today's episode. Welcome.
Thank you, Honey, Thank you for inviting us.
It's my pleasure. You traveled all the way from Bulgaria
to Belgium for your son. Tell us a little bit
about him if you would.
My son Raddin now is thirty years old. When he
was born, everything was good with him. But when he
was older, we noticed something was different.
What does mean?
His vocabulary was very small, He avoided other children and
he was often quiet. He didn't talk much, and he
didn't like playing with other kids. He liked doing the
same thing over and over, like opening and closing the door.
And well already didn't talk much. He pointed to things
he wanted, which he helped us understand him.
As he got older. Did he get to the point
where he started to talk more? How did that work out?
Slowly?
With therapy he started using, but some words by the
time he was saying he couldn't repeat to few priss.
We took him to doctors, but they didn't know what
was wrong exactly. Those early years were very hard for
us family because autism wasn't well understood and in Bulgaria
there weren't many resources to help the children, not only
ready and as a teacher, because my profession is a teacher,
I felt helpless and able to.
Provide to support my son.
Even at the school where I worked as a principal,
my colleagues had no experience with teaching autistic children.
Again, I want to remaind Before.
Thirty years, when Raddy was about ten, we learned that
he had a diagnosis autism spectrum disorder.
We were surprised, of course, but it made sense.
In this time, I started looking for help, but there
weren't many places in Bulgaria that could help children like Kradi.
I am a teacher. I wanted to help my son
too much.
For me, Rady is you need like all children on
the autism spectrum and looking for better education for him.
I started working on projects to create inclusive learning environments
for autistic children.
Did you implement what you was doing into the school
system since that's what you did was teaching.
I wanted to make schools better for children with autism
because in Bulgaria, our teachers, my colleagues, were not prepared to.
Work with children in this period.
Of course, now maybe they are prepared because of my
educational projects. I visited a lot of countries to learn
how they included children of the autism spectrum and the
projects aim to train teachers, improve classrooms and provide support
for families. And this experience changed everything for me. They
helped me create strategies to support not just ready but
other children with similar challenges. In the school where I
was principal, it was really helpful. Raddy grew older, but
his speech therapy showed only small improvements, and school was
very difficult for him. He often cried and couldn't stay
there for a long time without me because he wants
to be with me, only with me inside.
With all that happening, what did you have for plans
that could help Ridi with his autism?
Saint Bulghari didn't have enough resources. I decided to look
for him abroad. Our first move was to Slovakia. Wheready
attended a school for autistic children in Bratislava. We got
a diornosis atypical autism. Even though he didn't speak Slova,
our language is a little bit similar, he started learning
some words and sed an English based system.
There.
For the first time, my son was participated in school
activities and spent time away from me. He even joined
cultural events with his teachers. He started to learn and
make friends. These give us home for his future. But
when my term as the director of the Bulgarian school
in Slovakia ended, we returned to Bulgaria.
For a short time.
After discovering there were still no researches for Radi in
Bulgaria and Rady was growing up, I decided to move again.
What happened in twenty sixteen we moved to the Czech Republic.
I became the principle of the Bulgarian school. In Prague,
Rady joined specialized center for autistic children. This was a
turning point for him. He took part in gardening, social
activities and practical tasks.
He felt very.
Happy and useful, which was very different from before. After Prague,
I got a chance to work at a European school
in Belgium. Raddy here attends an autistic center during the
week and stylisticals on weekends. Because now he's thirty years
old already, the center teaches him life skills and routines
to help him become more independent. This is very important
as we prepare for our future where I may not
always be able to care for him.
Yes, that's definitely a concern from most parents. What kind
of changes have you seen Faradi since you made the
move from Bulgaria to Belgium. Has there been anything noticeable
that you see far as the way he handles himself.
Yes, so maybe over the past few years it has
become noticeably way more calmer and he's more open to
exploring new activities, but again they have to be aligned
with his specific interests, which are.
Mickey Mouse and music.
Actually very interesting, My mirosa for you, Tony is how
the extortal re connection he has met music. It's been
evident since even when she was very young. He used
to take the TV remote and just listen to music
cans two hours and hours every day, and when we
were in Slovakia he had to before going to school.
We had to listen to.
His favorite singer, Lady Yaga at seven o'clock in.
The morning every bedroom lands, especially bedrool mounds.
But it's always how connected he is to the music
and how it immediately changes his mooth when he listens
to it.
You're Righty's cousin. What led you to leave Bulgaria to
make the move to Belgium along with them?
And so in Bendfium, First there is for my field
of studies there. I think it's the higher quality of
education here firstly, and then again I wanted to help
my aunt and my cousin, and I really have a
strong connection with them, so I joined them here and
I love spending time with them.
So it's been a great experience.
Last year's being with them and helping them without whatever
I can.
Now, you're a teacher, you have an autistic son. Do
you work with other autistic children teaching them as well
as you do RIDI?
Yes, I am a teacher and hold my life.
I was a teacher and I was a principal of
many schools, but all my life I was working on
a project because I wanted to see how the people
in different countries working with disirable people, with autistic people.
Why because it was very important.
Not only for me, like parents like me and a
teacher and like a principal like Educter. Because I wanted.
To know more to help, not only for my son.
And to the other children. And that is why I
like too much my professional profession, and this is important,
I think, to help the people.
I think that's great. What kind of changes or differences
have you seen since moving to Belgium. What's the difference
between Bulgaria and Belgium in a way they work with
autistic people.
Different countries have different ways incorporating maybe the children of
the spectrum in school, some of them using classrooms, others
just tell them.
That they could be that they could be accepted.
In the center somewhere else divided by the eclusive classrooms,
so it's every country has been different. In Bulgaria, it
was more the principle of inclusive classroom in the beginning,
just all the kids would be together. But what we
considered a little bit was a challenge that was that
there wasn't.
Teachers, There were not prepared enough.
There didn't have enough information to end on both autistic
and non artistic kits in the same classroom.
So in the global level, there is a need for.
All teachers and no educators and parents to be aware
that there could be artistic kids and also no nartistic
kids that are together, and just to prepare the kids
also so they're not so they don't interact with each
other in stuff like that could to impact them through
their whole life. Maybe there is there need to more
of communication with them and just having better education for
better brought more projects for educators and teachers, specifically for
inclusive classrooms.
Did he have problems with bullying or any situations like
that while he was in Bulgaria. How did the other
kids treat them?
I think yes, in the beginning he had in bulgarias
he wasn't really well accepted to change first with our children.
For first, for dutyes because he works with other kids.
Yes, in the beginning, he doesn't. He doesn't accept it
because he because he is autists. He did the same things,
opening and closing the doors, the doors, and he was
very quiet and for the children, was not prepared. He
wanted too much to play with the others children, but
it was not possible, how I told you, In Slovakia,
in the Czech Republic and in Belgium, he has this.
Connection, he has friends.
That is why I feel very happy, and that is
why when I saw that the other people and the
children doesn't accept him because he is something different. He's quiet,
he did something strange, because it was very strange. He
doesn't speak, he doesn't he did something different from them.
They didn't want to play with them. That is why
my son was not happy.
And I wanted to change my life and I changed
my life, all my life and travel with him, and
I left my country. And I told you what I
did with me and all my family, not with all
my family, because I have daughter, my daughter, this is
Sraddy's sister.
She's five years older than him.
She's not autistic, and she's study in Bulgaria and she
supports him, she support me, but she's in Bulgaria.
Yeah, that's family here.
So did you leave behind a large family? How did
that work with you leaving Bulgaria to move to Belgium
because ultimately you thought it would help Friday? How did
that work?
Yeah?
We have perfectly most of our families in Bulgaria, but
we are here in Vasion, mostly because so he could
have these centers, he could live there, she could be happy.
That's the whole idea.
But of course not all the family can move to
cheery Belgium and they're still good in Bulgaria. They're already
for example, or his sister, she's married and she's happy there.
As we moved here with him.
Do you get a chance to get back to Bulgaria
from time to see your family if you do, how
does the interaction go since you moved, and how does
Radi get to see and be with relatives.
You're doing it?
Yes, we moved to Bulgaria because Radi should be Sye
him father or him.
Another part of our relatives.
But it was easy when he was younger, maybe when
we were in Slovakia, but when he.
Was an adult something.
What I mean some maybe not him behavior, but the
people maybe didn't accept yet autistic people. Because we had
some problem with airports. So when I wanted to be
with Rady in Ontario last summer and I had some
delay eight hours eight hours, and can you imagine what
happened with Rady? Nobody told us what happened when our
plan will be ready for fulf Rady was right, we
cannot stand up from our.
Two crowded several people are out there and because of
this delay, so we could move from our seats. You're
so stressed. We tried to give him music to listen.
Of course we give him games, but we had to
explain somehow. But he doesn't understand some situations like that
when we have to wait, doesn't understand why we have
to wait. A big challenge. But actually might be interesting
is how the way we managed to go through that.
Yes, because it was a very big stress, not only
for Raddy and for me too.
That is I think that in public places.
We need more understanding from the people, not only from
the people around us. Maybe this company should be I
think about this that there are a lot of different people,
not autistic, but disabled people that need some account places
that we can go there to be to stay for
a little, not to stay with the other people.
That the places are.
Very noisy, that they are not comfortable for disabled childs
or adults, because for example, supermarkets the same we need
some quieter checkout check out areas, airport could be have special.
Count spieces for families.
So with kids who need this piece, understand me these
small changes what uh make a big difference for us
because you can always still if someone fays autism ALRADI
looks like any other kids.
We need to teach people.
That kids with autism should be accepted. That's why we started,
for example on Instagram at count and we share our
story to help others understand.
This is where we share actually how we go through
all those challenges like bridges, how we make meant to
make him now he is able actually to walk on
bridges all by himself. And for the airports, the way
we were holding his hands, we were talking to him
about how we will land and all these little techniques
that we have with the time we share them there
this my sonctism journey.
Yeah, exactly exactly. And I think that your travels from
Bulgaria now in the Belgium. I think that's really good
that you've that kind of following, but also that you've
built a good life, getting along really well and things
are getting better.
It's if we're working on different techniques.
Even lately, I've started since I'm doing a Master tas
in business engineering and it's on implementation of AI in education,
I've been working on different creating different activities that would
be aligned for people on the autistic spectrum.
Because you know, everyone is unique, so there.
Is no there's no unique fairy tale or unique game
that you could buy and it could be suitable for everyone.
So I started generating ideas of how we could create
stories or fian tales that would be designed specifically on
the interests of each share child on the statue. That's
I started creating stories for already better stories for him
that would be specifically on mouses, lady Garia and.
His favorite food. And it's great success.
Actually, afterwards, I also started creating games again on using
AI with based on his interests, a little bit like
Monopoly but with mouths and then I Gaia.
So it could be.
A good idea for parents out there who are searching
for ways to or or just what types of games
they could buy.
They could.
It's the gear that they could actually generate games like
this or stories that could be suitable for the level
of understanding of their child and the gains the inventors
it has.
Yes, so are you still in school doing this?
Yeah, I'm still studying, but I'm doing my master THESS
right now. So I've been working all all different projects
that would be suitable for education and the implementation of
AI on this.
Once you get your masters, then you can go out
and get work. Is this what your plans are to
help autistic people with your designs?
I could do that. I could work and do that.
I think I will help my aunt with her researchers
and her projects some alchism because all those findings.
That they have, we work with her.
We just developed different researches and she even started to
write all that in a book about all our journey.
Yeah.
Good, How far along are you in the book?
As we started from the beginning from me, the.
Big of our journey and Bulgarian, all the different countries
that we've bid, how different challenges and how we went
to them. And then the second part will be some
activities that research is that we are right now they
on AI. This will be just as ideas for parents
out there who are searching for inspiration for how to
direct to their keys.
That's good. What would you like to tell people that
are listening to this that might be in Europe or
wherever they might be. What would you like to tell
them so that they can have a good feeling that
things can go better and they can still move forward.
Now, what I really want is for everyone to understand
and accept people with autism. I hope this podcast can
help people understand and inspire them to make a difference.
The more people know about autism, the better we can
understand each other. It will be good if big companies
support people with autism by giving them jobs. They have
the power to make big differences in their lives. The
support can be in their workplaces or even in their advertisements.
But this is not just about jobs. It's about making
the whole worlds more inclusive. We need to be kind
and understanding to everyone. By working together, we can create
a future with people with autism and respect it and
support it. This that I want, and I know that
you did this with your podcast, and I thank you
so much that you open with this podcast and you
help too much more people that have some familist and
you helped me like mother and.
You support me with your podcast.
Thank you so much, it's been awesome. I really appreciate
listening to your journey and everything you've done from Bulgaria
to Belgium. So thanks again. Thanks for taking the time
out of your busy schedule to listen to our show today.
We hope that you enjoyed it as much as we
enjoyed it bringing it to you. If you know anyone
they would like to tell us their story, send them
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