From the experience in Italy about the legal figure "Administratore di Sostengo", precursor of what is pursued with the new law in Spain, and from the detection of needs in both countries, we wanted to define the curriculum (competences) of the person who is going to support the legal capacity of autistic people. Likewise, through the research of the needs, fears, worries of autistic people, their families and professionals, about what is "becoming an adult", we wanted to identify those competences. With this identification of the necessary competences, we wanted to identify a new professional profile associating professional competences. Moreover, we hope that this could lead to a new training curriculum to be applied in all European countries where the transposition of article 12 of the International Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities is taking place, adapted to the special needs of autistic people.
The transposition of Article 12 of the International Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities into Spanish law, materialised through Law 8/2021 of 2 June, which reforms civil and procedural legislation to support persons with disabilities in the exercise of their legal capacity, has brought about a change in the paradigm of disability. Through this law, all people, whether or not they have a disability, have legal capacity. Thus, classic figures of protection such as"tutela" or "curatela" disappear in favour of other formulas of support. In this way, depending on the person and whether they have a greater or lesser level of dependency, the support they need will be one or another and the different forms of support included in the law will have to be adapted to each person. Thus, the law does not determine the competences that the people who are going to support the exercise of the legal capacity of people with disabilities must have, thus giving rise to a new professional profile. Therefore, this project gathers the competences of this new professional figure, who is going to support the exercise of the legal capacity of people with disabilities and autism.