Get to know us
The idea came from several parents who wanted to create a holistic approach, not just one goal at a time, and where their child was empowered.
1. Sensory-Focused Approach: The name “6 Sentidos” (Six Senses) reflects the importance of sensory processing, including proprioception, which is often affected in autism.
2. Neurodiversity Perspective: The charter embraces a strengths-based approach rather than a deficit model, celebrating neurological differences.
3. Individualized Programming: Every aspect emphasizes personalized education plans and interventions tailored to each child’s unique profile.
4. Family-Centered: Strong emphasis on family partnership, training, and support throughout the educational journey.
5. Evidence-Based: Commitment to research-backed interventions while remaining flexible and innovative.
6. Comprehensive Services: Integrates education, therapy, and life skills in a holistic approach.
The charter also includes practical elements like governance structure, staff qualifications, student-to-staff ratios, and quality assurance measures. It’s designed to be both aspirational and actionable, providing a solid foundation for establishing and operating a specialized learning center.
Our mission
We're on a mission to change the way the world sees autistic children and create a community of neurodiverse affirming advocates. Each child learns differently and everyone's body has a different way of regulating itself. Without regulation, there is no learning,
Our vision
We want to live in a world where our community supports our children's growth into adulthood, where their strengths are recognized, and the future is much less unpredictable. Within our community, we have many entrepreneurs who see value in creating roles for individuals with special talents, even if, today, these are considered disabilities.
Our team
Our strength lies in our individuality. Set up by Caroline King, the team strives to bring in the best talent in various fields, from personal training to resonaSpectrum and life skills.
Caroline KING
Founder
Gaëlle Collas
educator ai special needs/ robotics
Vasco Francês
Personal trainer
Karla Torres
Tutor special needs
Gabriel Barbato
head of design & partnerships
Diana Duarte
Media manager
Our Advisors
Our advisors bring additional weight and perspective to our team and to families who are members of 6 Sentidos Learning Community
Frida Lehmann
Movement & Pilates coach
Frida’s journey into movement began with a professional dance career shaped by years of dedicated training and performance. She studied at Balettakademien in Stockholm and Dance New Amsterdam in New York City, where she explored a wide range of movement practices under inspiring and highly skilled teachers.
Through the demands of dance, she developed a deep respect for the body’s need for care, balance, and awareness. Her curiosity led her to Pilates and other somatic practices, first as a way to support her own well-being, and naturally evolving into a desire to support others. At the heart of her work is a simple belief: movement has the power to heal, connect, and sustain us.
Today, Frida shares her passion by guiding people to move with more ease, presence, and longevity. Her approach blends physical strength with inner awareness, creating a space where both body and mind can thrive.
Becoming a mother has brought a new layer of inspiration to her work. Watching her child grow and move through early developmental stages has deepened her appreciation for the body’s natural intelligence and continues to shape the way she teaches and learns.
Leopoldo Leitão
DR in psychology & experience in equine training; Director & Project Coordinator of the Autism | EPE project.
Michael Raffaele
Education civil rights attorney
Michael D. Raffaele has practiced as an education civil rights attorney in the state of Pennsylvania in the United States for the last decade. His work focuses on ensuring that children with special educational needs—particularly children with Autism, behavioral, emotional, and sensory regulation issues, and executive functioning differences—receive the supports that they deserve to be fully included in schools. In his time as an education rights lawyer, Michael has worked with parents, schools, evaluators, and related services providers to devise accommodations and modes of specially-designed instruction aimed at meeting each child where they are so that they have the chance to thrive academically, socially, behaviorally, and emotionally. Prior to his current work, Michael was in-house counsel for a children’s health system in the United States, a public defender, and an commercial litigator with a focus in pharmaceutical products liability. He now lives in Cascais with
About Children's Rights
About Michael Raffaele
Michael D. Raffaele has practiced as an education civil rights attorney in the state of Pennsylvania in the United States for the last decade. His work focuses on ensuring that children with special educational needs—particularly children with Autism, behavioral, emotional, and sensory regulation issues, and executive functioning differences—receive the supports that they deserve to be fully included in schools. In his time as an education rights lawyer, Michael has worked with parents, schools, evaluators, and related services providers to devise accommodations and modes of specially-designed instruction aimed at meeting each child where they are so that they have the chance to thrive academically, socially, behaviorally, and emotionally. Prior to his current work, Michael was in-house counsel for a children’s health system in the United States, a public defender, and an commercial litigator with a focus in pharmaceutical products liability. He now lives in Cascais with his wife, three wonderful children, and two mildly insane cats, and hopes to bring his knowledge of special education in the United States to bear to help families of children with special educational needs here in Portugal.