Blue Day: Awareness Day for Autism | Chronic

The whole world is dyed blue on April 2nd to launch a global call for inclusion, tolerance and respect for people with an Autism Spectrum Disorder (PDD) and, currently, for the first time. Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).

This color has become the symbol of autism. This is, in a way, what families and people living with this syndrome live on a daily basis. There are times when the blue is bright and calm like the sea on a summer day, and at other times it darkens and dissipates like a sea of ​​storm. This is a bit of what happens with those who have this disease.

Thus, under the slogan "Together, we can make autism visible", they invite everyone to take up the challenge of using the blue and upload a photo on social networks with the hashtag #hagamosvisibleelautismo. Currently, this condition reaches 400,000 people, according to statistics from the Argentine Association of Parents of Autistic Children (APAdeA).

"The kindergarten director who attended my son Patricio, noticed that he had certain attitudes that caught his attention: he did not answer his name, he did not play at recess and he escaped from the show. ", account Jorge Sengiali, creator of TGD Parents, a group that helps families with this type of diagnosis. "Patricio also beat hands, a feature I learned later was typical of this condition", he added.

Autism Spectrum Disorder is a broad range of developmental impairments characterized at different levels by communication and social interaction difficulties and by the existence of schemas. repetitive and restricted activities and interests. Its origin is neurobiological and, although they appear to have started at a very early stage of brain development, their most obvious signs and symptoms are manifested in the first years of life through their behavior.

Patricio, is 15 years old and was diagnosed with this disease at the age of 3 years. "Twelve years ago, it was not like now, there was a lot of ignorance ", Says Jorge. However, despite these unusual behaviors, doctors told him "it will happen". Finally, when they told him that his son was autistic, he said: "It was day and night, everything I had dreamed about for him had collapsed".

There are no medical studies for the diagnosis of ASD. It is based on the qualified observation of the child's behavior and must be carried out by a doctor or psychologist who has received specific training and has extensive clinical experience.

"I did not know what it was, what it looked like, what I had to do, we had neither professionals nor treatments, the first moment was devastating". In addition, at Garraham Hospital, an educational psychologist told Patricio 's mother: "There is nothing else to do, do not worry about doing things because it's forever". Jorge could not believe that we should stop betting on a three-year-old boy only. They refused to accept that.

In this way, the marriage has set the goal of "open doors", that is to say search all alternatives for Patricio to be better. Thus, little by little, the path of the unknown clears. A social work neurologist has recommended a psychologist who, according to him, "deleted cases worse than yours".

Accompanied by a specialized team of psychopedagogues, speech therapists and psychologists, they went through a difficult process, because the child did not speak with much work but managed to communicate. It was at first gestural and then verbally. He began to transmit his needs and was able to express his statements in a moment.

Today, after 14 years of treatment, Patricio can have a conversation and has a much greater communication flexibility than in the past. "He does everything with his time and his spirit".

"It is very important to point out that what boys have is not an absence of" Autism is a generalized disorder of development, that is, it goes to other times " Jorge said.

Although knowledge on the subject is more numerous today, the obstacles remain very important, as in the case of education, because very few schools accept children with this disease. This is one of the main reasons why TGD Parents was formed. "We had a lot of loneliness and uncertainty, so we met with other parents to exchange data to offer our children a better quality of life.".

The group fights daily for respect and tolerance on all points: "We no longer talk about vacancies in schools, nor integration, we do not even talk about inclusion, we talked about what should be a single school, because when you integrate, in some schools, they place you as "poor" and there is no minimum intensity of rights and vision, in inclusion is a little better, but there are still divisions, so the only school is a place where everyone coexists and embraces this difference, then learns to respect and maintain it at the social level. ".