At the invitation of Autism Speaks - the foundation that invented glowing blue - we participated in a global meeting of leaders of autism organizations. It was well worth it!

The United States, Argentina, Brazil, India, China, Aruba (did you know there was such a territory?), Russia and Ukraine (sitting at the same table), Vietnam, the Philippines and Malaysia were just some of the countries present. Poland was represented by JiM, of course. And it was one of the most interesting meetings we had the opportunity to attend.

First of all, we were able to meet Susan and Bob Wright - Christian's grandparents with autism, who founded Autism Speaks in 2005. In just nine years, they managed to build a foundation that organized the worldwide campaign Light it up blue! Thanks to it, major buildings around the world glow blue on April 2 - World Autism Awareness Day.

Susan and Bob turned out to be very nice and open people. At the mention that we were from Poland, they immediately threw in, "Ah, it was you who danced to Happy on April 2!". Later it turned out that all the participants of the meeting are very familiar with our "dancing" video. They saw it on the Autism Speaks website, only we missed it until now 🙂
JiM's video and entry on the Autism Speaks website can be seen HERE

At the meeting we met many wonderful people from all over the world. It turned out that there are similar problems everywhere. Lack of access to diagnosis, therapy and education, low public awareness, the plight of parents, the reluctance of politicians to implement change.

There are countries where the situation is truly dramatic. In Russia, the state forces parents of children with autism to give them to state orphanages. Against this background, the pressure for individual teaching in Poland looks innocent, although it hurts no less. After the meeting, we are even more confident that this will eventually change. All that is needed is perseverance and not looking at others. - Kites always fly against the wind. And everyone admires them," we heard.

Christian, Susan and Bob's grandson, is now 13 years old. - Christian was our first blue light," says Susan. - We decided to shine because nothing moves faster than light. That's how we can reach people's hearts the fastest.
It occurred to us that if in Christian's still short life, after all, such great things can be accomplished, where will JiM be in nine years? All we have to do is work hard.

And Susan works really hard. We know from her co-workers that there isn't a conversation that isn't followed by an email. No meeting is complete without a written thank you. Susan believes in the traditional things - pen, paper and letter. With a simple message - thank you.

So we also will not forget to say. Susan, thank you very much!

We will not forget this meeting. Not only because at the end everyone danced in the JiM way, to Happy.