Dear Friends!
Every year on April 2, at the initiative of the United Nations, the whole world celebrates Autism Awareness Day. As the ‘Child with Future’ Foundation, we celebrate this date for the 11th time and we know well how important the availability, timeliness, and usefulness of information are for autistic children and their families. But today I want to draw attention to another important aspect of this day.
When we talk about information as a socially important phenomenon, we must always remember that not all information is reliable and truthful. Not all of it is useful. Every day, so much news is dumped on each of us that one can drown in their maelstrom. Sometimes and, unfortunately, more and more often, a significant part of it is made up of outright lies or hidden lies. They lead to the appearance in the society of all sorts of fakes, myths and even (!) bring obvious harm to the children’s health.
In our activities, we constantly encounter such unfair facts and point out their inadmissibility and harm. By and large, it doesn’t even matter who produces them – deliberately scammers or ignorant users of social networks unwittingly. Another thing is important. Their victims are specific people who perceive inaccurate information at face value and take, guided by them, serious decisions regarding their children.
Of course, in the era of hybrid wars and mass information technologies, no one is able to eliminate this phenomenon, but we believe that through the joint efforts of virtuous and decent people it is possible to significantly limit the influence of lies and their spread in our daily information space.
That is why the ‘Child with Future’ Foundation together with our colleagues and partners in Ukraine, the EU, and the world calls on all organizations and communities that deal with autism, to produce and disseminate only truthful and verified information. Thus, forming around our children an environmentally friendly and safe information space – a space that is a key factor in ensuring effective development and dignified life for special children and the whole society.
Faithfully yours,
Inna Sergienko
Founder of the ‘Child with Future’ Foundation
“Autism Europe” Consul
Kyiv, April 2, 2021.
