Amanda has over thirteen years of experience in childcare and education, and many of these years were dedicated to neurodivergent children. She has worked in various educational settings and devoted part of her life to teaching and providing care for neurotypical and neurodivergent young children. After finishing her master's degree program in Educational Psychology, she decided to leave her home country, Brazil, and come to the United States to learn more innovative methods to care for, include, and primarily educate neurodivergent individuals. During the years she spent directly working with the neurodiverse population, Amanda learned the importance of holistic approaches, sincere relationships, and the presumption of competence. In the United States, Amanda connected with several families and professionals, including fellow educators, occupational therapists, and speech therapists, who shared the same educational philosophy and acknowledged the need for more facilities where neurodivergent children could receive a high-quality education while preserving their identity. When she is not dedicating her hours to her work at Friendship Forest Academy, Amanda enjoys reading books and scientific articles on neurodiversity, writing fiction novels and poems in Portuguese, and watching movies with her beloved son.