My name is Anita. I come from Greece, a village called Platanias. I’m married and I have two sons Kostas and Alkis.
Kostas is 20 years old. He studies Business administration and Alkis is 12 years old and goes to the fifth grade of elementary school, (in a typical school with a special educator).
Alkis was diagnosed with a typical development disorder in the autism spectrum. When he was one and a half years old. In the blink of the moment, our lives changed radically quickly and nothing was ever the same.

Nevertheless, a great deal is being written and said about autism and several explanations have been offered.. however, it is important to emphasize that we leave much to be desired due to the absence of indelicacy.

The central question then becomes: “ How my personal opinion, in such a delicate matter can affect, can inspire other people? “
To be honest I don’t know. All I know is that now it’s clear to me that we should turn our sight and our most warm-hearted attention, to offer some serious help to those remarkable children. My subjective truth is much more appreciated than what is taken for granted.

My son, Alkis, is a great warrior. He is loving and caring, and he is doing his best. If he could express his thoughts and emotions thoroughly it would go like this:
“ One could say that my heart and mind don’t belong to me as if they were not mine. Emotions flood my soul instantly like lightning.. but instead of enlightening me, they burn me and blind me. I feel everything but I see nothing… I am inflamed with emotions and totally helpless. In order to think I have to stay calm. The funny thing is that I’m particularly bright – all you have to do is ..wait for me. I find the most astonishing answers only when I let myself unwind. Because when emotions gush forth nothing is clear. Slowly, slowly insensible, chaos disentangles and everything is in the right place”.

Being Alkis’s mum is truly a blessing. He is a great tutor for the whole family. It’s not easy, we have our ups and downs but we never give up the fight. It is a journey and we choose not to be afraid because life gets boring when you stay within the limits of what you already know. We give ourselves permission to live, stand in our truth and be fully present with our journey, without fear or shame.

Due to my personal opinion, I’ve learned that a dream written down with a date becomes a Goal. A goal broken down into steps becomes a Plan. A plan backed by action becomes reality. But it doesn’t have to be a lonely journey. We all need fellow travelers. Our great litterateur KAZANTZAKIS once said the following quote: “ There are no ideas. There are people who have ideas and those ideas attain their height. The more people, the better “… and you know what.. he is right!!.
I want to believe that we will help each other.. one step at a time. We must have faith and the stream of life will do the rest. “ we are warriors- this is how we should call ourselves. We fight for the superlative virtue, the supreme effort, for the noblest wisdom”. ( AUNGUTTARA NIKAVA )

A friendly society towards autism is a friendly society towards all.
Kind regards,
Anita