Autistic children bear hidden cost of violent police raids in Brazil’s favelas

Life in poor urban communities can resemble a war zone – but self-help groups are helping neurodiverse kids copeIn January, as about 500 police officers carried out a 15-hour raid in one of Rio de Janeiro’s largest favela complexes, Rafaela Figueiredo de França was trying to distract her six-year-old daughter, who has been diagnosed with autism.To prevent Maria from panicking amid the seemingly endless barrage of deafening gunfire – so intense that it even brought down t