The beginning of April is a special date for people on the autism spectrum. This is because April 2 was declared World Autism Awareness Day by the United Nations in 2008.
The initiative to raise awareness about autism spectrums came from Her Highness Sheikha Mozah Bint Nasser Al Missned. Who is this woman? Her Excellency is the wife of the former Emir of Qatar and a passionate activist for democracy and, above all, education. She has carried out her activities not only in her country, but all over the world. Among other things, she was awarded the Polish Order of the Smile! The resolution was supported as an extension of the UN’s policy of improving human rights.
World Autism Awareness Day has become one of only seven health-related days established by the United Nations. The goal of the day is to bring NGOs, countries, and citizens together in a common effort to research, diagnose and accept people on the autism spectrum.
Ban Ki Moon, UN Secretary-General, in 2012 gave a speech in which he emphasized that:
“The annual celebration of World Autism Awareness Day is intended to encourage action and draw attention to the unacceptable discrimination, abuse, and isolation experienced by people affected by autism and their loved ones. As the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities emphasizes, people with autism are equal before the law and are entitled to all human rights and fundamental freedoms.
Since that statement, the annual celebration of the day by the organization has been kept to a specific thematic theme, such as “Opening Doors to Inclusive Education,” or the one closest to our business, “Employment: The Autism Advantage.”
Thanks to international recognition, communities in different countries have been able to unify their efforts for awareness of spectrum disorders. In Poland, too, there are many foundations and associations promoting awareness of the subject that celebrate this special day. Among them, it is worth mentioning JiM Foundation, Awaken the Senses Foundation, SYNAPSIS Foundation, Wrocław for Autism and, of course, the Lower Silesian Association for Autism .
It is not only the third sector that joins the day’s celebration. Various other organizations, such as the National Chamber of Nurses and Midwives, also publish articles and organize various actions on that day.
The initiator of the day’s celebration in Lower Silesia was the friendly Lower Silesian Association for Autism. Among other things, they have promoted dressing in blue colors on this day, changing profile pictures in an expression of support, various fundraisers and outdoor actions, or a wonderful initiative to light up buildings in blue, in which many companies and entities in the city participated.
This year, as the European Foundation for Social Activism (EFAS) with the asperIT project, we decided to join the action and support the DSA. After all, in our activities, we promote awareness of the abilities of people on the spectrum! However, due to the pandemic and the current governance regarding public life, we cannot organize an external event with our friends. So we are joining the action in the virtual space: we have designed a Facebook profile picture overlay so that each of us and our friends can express our support on this special day in this way towards those we all care about.
You can find it at this link: https://www.facebook.com/profilepicframes/?overlay_source_object_id=3182051481839696&selected_overlay_id=846271445848012&__tn__=HH-R
We encourage you to join the action #wroclawnaniebiesko#naniebieskodlaautyzmu and show that the residents of Wrocław [Wroclove] understand, notice, and accept autism!
