- Direct Coronavirus, last minute
"We refuse to go out with our children with the stigma of the blue scarf. All those selfish and unhuman people who insult children with autism spectrum disorder are forever portrayed" ( Alfanhui , Madrid).
"Stigma? No. This is a social disability and must be made visible. All we want is for our children not to be reprimanded so that they do not go into crisis, because it is something very dangerous. The opinion of others does not matter to me. This gives security and what is important is the stabilization of the child "( Ainoa Lago , Ponferrada).
A blue scarf on the wrists of people with autism to avoid being insulted on the street in the midst of this dystopia.
A blue bracelet in alarm and confinement.
Protection or stigma?
The two quotation marks that start this text belong to two families with children who have Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). It is a disability with many levels of affectation, some of which imply the impossibility for these people to understand the massive house arrest imposed for 15 days on the whole of Spain by the coronavirus crisis. They are people who need a little daily walk, the so-called "therapeutic outings", but who are facing the insult of the neighborhood and, even in some cases, police repression. Its peculiar socio-sanitary circumstance forced the Government last week to modify the original wording of the State of Alarm Decree and publish in the BOE an instruction allowing them to exceptionally break the confinement.
But they continue to receive insults, screams, rebukes ...
A few days ago, an Argentine association launched an initiative that today has become controversial in Spain: a blue scarf as a safe-conduct .
Stigma or protection?
In recent days, some Spanish families have been joining the idea. For example, the 60 that make up Asperle , a Leonese collective that brings together family units in which there is a member with ASD. "An associate called us because the father of a child had received insults when taking him out on the street. We spoke with the local police and they asked us what they could do to avoid stopping each child. So we thought about joining the initiative of the handkerchief Blue and the majority of parents accepted. Some raised two inconveniences: that the child was marked or that the gesture was taken advantage of by the cheeks. So the Police told us to always carry the ASD diagnosis document as well. " Amparo Gavela , president of Asperle, speaks.
Thus, the association produced a poster with two photos of a girl wearing a blue scarf as a wristband and bracelet: " That the companion or child wear a BLUE BRACELET when going for a walk. We ask that if you see this, you respect that walk since their quarantine is more complicated than ours . "
So difficult that there are people who do not understand seclusion and need air. "When a person with ASD goes into crisis, it is bad for everyone. For her and for others. Autism is a spectrum: it goes from the slightest to the one that implies not understanding confinement at all and therefore the therapeutic need to get out. They would rather die than stay indoors, "says Gavela.
Ainoa Lago is a nurse and has a son with an autistic spectrum. She is Asperle's secretary and remembers calls from associations and families from Extremadura or Valencia, joining the blue badge. "There are insults and very tense situations. In fact, we are considering the possibility of a complaint. These children do not go out on a whim. They need it. And sometimes they receive screams that upset them so much that they enter into very dangerous crises. For them, a scream it's like a megaphone in the ear. And not all autism is seen, some people don't even notice it. So the blue scarf makes us visible in society and protects us. We want an inclusion, not to be pointed out. But the important thing is that children don't go into crisis. "
"I am moved by the initiative, but we must reflect: once again we lose, because we are left without privacy to protect ourselves from the violent and the uninvited . It is they whom we must point out. With what it has cost the Government to do the instruction, on top do we have to go tagged down the street? We have already been the target many times in history. One more stigma, no ". It is Jesús Martín Blanco , delegate for Human Rights of the Spanish Committee of Representatives of People with Disabilities (CERMI) , one of the great groups for political action and encounter, a giant made up of more than 8,000 associations.
CERMI rejects the handkerchief and bets on paper. "We ask families to come out with the disability certificate and a copy of the government's instruction . If the scarf is normalized, it can be used by people without disabilities, we are a country that comes from picaresque. And that would compromise health public ".
In the same "no" is Full Inclusion , a huge specific group in defense of people with intellectual disabilities. On the phone Enrique Galván , its director: "We understand the fear of families and the need for protection, but this is a brand, something that points to only one type of person. If a sign is necessary, it should be for professionals who they move to give support to those who need it. In any case, that the State provides a sign for essential professional personnel, but we do not put a label that marks a person because of his or her disability. With good intention we can take steps backwards in fight for inclusion. "
- And the families that today go out into the street in fear, what do they do?
-They can notify local police to provide coverage. It's already happening. Patrols who go to that area with discretion during the time the ride lasts. And we appeal to the collaboration and civility of the rest of society. It is not a whim, it is a necessity. Don't blame them, put yourself in their place.
We are talking about the scream from the window, the insult from top to bottom, that "balcony police" that so many people denounce on social networks. And it is on Twitter where the blue scarf reaches the stage of viral debate .
In a 2.12 minute video, the mother of a child with ASD ties a blue cloth around her wrist and looks at the camera: "I am on my nerves because we have dated Victor and people whistle and insult us . from now on, blue bracelet means please respect other abilities ... ".
The video has started to run at the same speed as the controversy.
A mother, Patricia Galilea , writes in favor: "Today we use our safe-conduct to go out with my autistic son and I was hurt by the AGGRESSION of people who stopped cars to insult me. Please, if you see a child + BLUE badge they are people with autism who they need to get out. "
A mother, Bea, writes against: "I refuse to have to mark my son because people don't have two fingers in front of them. And I respect whoever does it."
Protection or stigma?
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