Disorders of the autistic spectrum affect 1 person out of 88, according to the most recent figures published in 2012 by the scientific journal “Nature”.
It is very difficult to exactly define the behaviours which identify the disorder and to detect early sign of autism to improve the diagnosis already during the first months of the baby’s life.
The experts of the Laboratory of Diagnosis and Observation ODFLab - of the Department of Cognitive science of the University of Trento explain that “An immediate diagnosis of the ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorders) is fundamental to timely and effectively provide the best treatment to limit the relational and cognitive deficits of the child, and to fix precise objectives to achieve thanks the cooperation with the family and the school. ASD are difficult to detect during the first years of the child’s life. This is due to the scarce knowledge of by the population of the specific symptoms and because the behaviours marking ADS differ a lot from case to case”.
The World Autism Awareness Day on 2 April was designated by the UN in 2007, to raise the awareness of people on the need to improve the quality of life of children and adults suffering of one of the most severe and widely spread developmental disorders.
In Trentino the World Autism Awareness Day will be celebrated thanks to the initiatives of the ODFLab, in collaboration with the Social Cooperative Il Ponte, with the final phase of ““Itinerario autismi - Autism path”, held in February and March. The event will be organised in the Sala Filarmonica of Rovereto (Corso Rosmini, 86), at 3.30 pm.
The activities include the awarding ceremony of the two ongoing competitions organised for the first time by the Social Cooperative Il Ponte: “ART/aut”, for works of art made by people affected by ASDs, and “Quel mio amico così... - My friend so...”, for texts drafted by children of primary and secondary schools attending classes with at least one student affected by ASDs. ODFLab Interplay Band, Carini Band, Voci IgNote and Serhat AKbal will perform music, coordinated by the music therapist Stefano Cainelli.
The psychiatrist Davide Broglia will also interview a young man affected by autism.
The day will end with cinema with the presentation of the first episode of the web series TRAmondi (involving youngsters of the Social Cooperative Il Ponte, and of the Foundation Il Tiglio, sponsored by the University of Trento and the University of Pavia). At 8.30 pm the movie “The special need” by Carlo Zoratti will be broadcast, after the presentation of the two protagonists, Enea Gabino and Carla Meneghin.
The fountain of Rosmini Square will be lit with a blue light, which is the symbolic colour of the World Autism Awareness Day.