Thousands of people have come to Congress to raise awareness of autism – 04/02/2019

Congress Square was painted blue. The balloons, t-shirts, scarves, sequins, wigs and even the jersey of the Italian football team, known as "the Azzura", were all valid for using the color used around the world. identify people with autism spectrum disorders, in which every April 2 commemorate World Day of Awareness on Autism.

Under the motto "Together we can make autism visible", thousands of people gathered in front of the legislative palace with the sole purpose of: make visible the problem that concerns about 400,000 people, according to data from the Argentine Association of Parents of Autistic Children (APAdeA).

Amadeo (4) was at the side of his father, Cristian Gómez, and his mother, Sara, attached. Everyone with his t-shirt specifically designed for the event: "I am father / mother of a person with autism," they watched. The illness was diagnosed in the boy when he was only two years old and his parents' life changed forever: "We found that he was not answering his name, that he was not looking into Pediatricians told us that it was normal, that some children take longer to demonstrate certain things, but that worried us, "they say.

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That's why they decided to travel from Florencio Varela to the Congress, because they consider – as much – that there is no specialist doctor and that the diagnosis could be much faster: "I realized what my son when in a hospital, was i features of autism. "That's what Amadeo has," I thought and actually when we continued the studies, they said yes. "

This color has become the symbol of autism. This represents somehow what families and people 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.

The banners and posters that were seen on the square indicated: "Some seek a more beautiful world, people with autism create it"; "This love is blue, like the sea," said another. It's just that blue has been chosen as the symbol of this mess by the color of the ocean. 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, in a way, what families and people living with this syndrome live on a daily basis.

Gaetano, eight years old and diagnosed with autism at the age of three, does not leave her mother, María Sol, who defines herself as an "ambbadador of autism" with a blue wig. She says that her struggle is constant, not only because of the daily challenge she has with her son, but also because of the awareness she takes in society: this street or talk loud and say "what a baby whimsical and poorly educated for the mother who says nothing. They speak of ignorance and ignorance ".

The woman is worried when her son does not talk to her and does not relate to others: "After many years of treatment, she now uses 20 or 30 words, always the same, but for me, it is already a huge step forward, but there is something that worries me and with which I have nightmares: what will happen to him when he grows up and that I will not be there one day to to help him? "