"Thousands of sounds resonate in my ears like cannons, I am in unbearable pain…"

 World Autism Awareness Day was established by a decision of the UN General Assembly on 1 November 2007 and it was decided to celebrate it every year on 2 April. Its purpose is to inform the world public opinion about autism and the steps that need to be taken for the smooth integration of autistic people in society.

 Autism is a complex neuropsychiatric disorder that inhibits the normal development of the human body and isolates the sufferer from the rest of the world. It manifests before the age of 3 and lasts for a lifetime. It occurs much more often in boys, in a ratio of 3-4 boys to 1 girl. The cause of autism is still unknown. 

Mrs. Maria Cleanthous, president of the Pancyprian Association for People with Autism, reports to ant1iwo: 

"In order to really understand what autism is, one must be able to think for a while about a person with autism. I describe below how a child with autism experiences the world. I write what I lived and what I live every day with my son Alexander and there is no exaggeration.
 
 Everything around me is scary, thousands of sounds resonate in my ears like cannons, I am in unbearable pain, I bang my head on everything I find in front of me, on the wall of the room, on the glass of the balcony door and I break what I find in front of me. I close my ears with my hands and feel that my body can not balance, as if I were in a ship that is out of control in the storm. Inside my house the light of the fluorescent lamp burns my eyes and when I am in the yard of my house, school, on the street, in the park, the sun is unbearably bright and everything is dim. I do not know where I am, I'm confused. The smells from the environment make me sick, the taste of the food is strange for that and I choose to eat the same foods.  

The feeling of dirt and sand in my hands makes me feel uncomfortable, my clothes burn my skin and worst of all, I can not hide in my mother's arms because human contact causes skin pain. 

For all these reasons you see me closed to myself, it is my way of defending myself. This is my world, the world as I perceive it. Help me get out of this scary nightmare…
 
I can learn like other children, I want to communicate with you, I want to feel safe. I know I will always have autism, but I know that my life can be as beautiful as other children. 

Growing up I can learn maybe to work, to feel useful and independent. I have the right to be given all the opportunities as given to your own children. I'm different from you but tie autism as a different ability not as a disability and please remember that I am a child born with autism and not an autistic who happened to be a child. 

"What I did not tell you…

I know mom, everything would be different if I was born "normal"
I know it would be hard to pass the time, people have always been critical. 
I do not hold a grudge against them mom, after all they do not know me well
They do not know what autism means and what it is like to be different. 
Only you when you woke up at night and held me when I went out
screams at a foreign body I am trapped behind a wall that does not say to be torn down.
I may never have been able to tell you but you know mom I love you  
I have dreamed of another world that could accept me as well. 
I know mom, everything would be different if the world was different
If he could see inside me for a while and he would become my own voice "

It was written by Konstantina Ttofi who works at the day center in Limassol as secretary / coordinator of the association. Konstantina was inspired by the adults who study at the center ".

The Pancyprian Association for People with Autism, on the occasion of the World Autism Awareness Day, on April 2, organizes a Pancyprian Information Campaign within the framework of "light it up blue" with marches and events as follows:

 Limassol
The march starts at 19:00 pm from the Limassol City Hall with a finish in the Limassol Marina, which will be followed by speeches by the wife of the President of the Republic of Cyprus Mrs. Andri Anastasiadis, the Mayor of Limassol and the president of the Association for People with Autism. 

 Nicosia
The march will start at 19:00 pm from the City Hall of Nicosia, ending at the City Hall of Nicosia, followed by a speech by the Mayor of Nicosia and a representative of the Association for People with Autism. 

Paphos  
The march starts at 19:00 pm from the Paphos Intervention Center (Evros 4) of the Association with a finish at the Paphos City Hall, which will be followed by a speech by the Mayor of Paphos and a representative of the Association for People with Autism.