Today, April 2nd, is World Autism Awareness Day, and it's a topic that touches my heart for personal reasons, which is why I decided to address it in this entry. When our generation attended classrooms, we coexisted with students with ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder) without even knowing it because their diagnosis is not easy and there are different categories of it, but today we know which children have it and share the morning with our children.
According to the latest official data, it is estimated that one in 175 children is born with ASD. In my youngest son's class, there is a child with autism, and I remember the comments outside the classroom, from the mothers or fathers who tend to be more cruel than our children, and always for the same reason: lack of information.
That's why today, taking advantage of this day, I will write about this disorder and how education influences its treatment, but above all, I will write about how living daily with special people influences our children. We can no longer hide behind misinformation because both children with ASD and our children have the right to inclusive education, to value differences and make them their own.
We must end discrimination from childhood; it is clear that in adulthood, accepting what is different costs twice as much. In the end, the important thing is that our sons and daughters are happy, and if that special friend has ASD, it can only mean that your child has incalculable emotional intelligence. Who am I to not accept that relationship? If I didn't accept it, it would mean that I am an adult full of prejudices that I surely forged in my childhood. I don't want to, nor can I, imagine what would have happened if I didn't know the paths of ASD when my son told me about his new colleague.
The first handicap that autistic children face is the acceptance by their parents of the diagnosis, as many prefer to hide the disorder to avoid discrimination, a situation that, in light of the comments about my child's friend (and more about their friendship), I can understand. Autism has no cure but it does have a treatment that can contribute to the child's development and well-being. The social integration of a child with ASD does not depend exclusively on the education they receive; other factors influence it, such as: type of autism, degree of affectation, and the family and social environment. They must receive a quality education, with appropriate methods and therapies, and whenever possible in the regular classroom so that they integrate into a normal environment from their childhood. We must not forget that they will grow up, and if they were educated in special schools, their integration into reality will be more difficult.
The decision on the form of education for children with ASD depends on their parents, their doctors, and their teachers because each child manifests autism in a different way, and despite not being a learning disability, it does affect it. We must normalize these situations once and for all and raise social awareness while we wait for the political sphere to react and include it in their agenda. It is a reality that special resources are needed for their education, and the lack of political will means that many schools are overwhelmed with the situation and invite parents to take their children to special centers.
The motto chosen to raise awareness this year is "Let's break down barriers together for autism. Let's make an accessible society." It is good news that the Lanzarote Health Services Management has incorporated easily identifiable pictograms on the doors of the consultations in the health centers and local clinics of its Primary Care network to facilitate the accessibility of people with ASD. We are starting to sow awareness, but there is still a long way to go.
