Suggestions
I'm Tamara's mother. She's a sweet girl with some autistic traits—though no one has ever given us a clear diagnosis. I wanted to offer a few thoughts about Ombre e Luci. The magazine already means a lot to me, but there's always room to do better.
First, I'd love to see deeper coverage of our children's suffering and how a more compassionate society could do more to support families like mine. Too often we're left entirely on our own.
I'd also like autism to be featured more regularly—and in ways that help people understand it the way they understand other well-known conditions. The media has a role to play.
It would help parents enormously to have a list of centers where our children could spend summer holidays with their non-disabled peers.
And please, cover the enormous strain families face every year when schools assign new support teachers with no training for these situations. Teachers who are simply inadequate to the role they're meant to play during such crucial years.
I'm confident you'll take these ideas seriously. I'm enclosing names of people I hope will subscribe. Congratulations on your wonderful magazine—I'd love to see it become monthly.
Best wishes,
Marina Frassineti (Modigliana)
Thank you for these invaluable suggestions. We'll do our best to follow them.
Several readers, like you, have asked us to shift from quarterly to monthly publication. Even moving to every two months would be a big step forward—but we'd need to double our subscriber base. Can we pull it off?
Looking for a Better Word
I'm not sure you'll remember me, but I'm Consuelo's father. She has Down syndrome and is ten now. I started subscribing to Ombre e Luci when Consuelo was three or four, after you published her photo and a few of my letters. Then we began attending the Fede e Luce group in Marzocca. In June 1992, Marina arrived—Consuelo's little sister. You can't imagine her joy. She waited those nine months with such eagerness and love, helped us prepare, and chose Marina's clothes herself. Now Marina is a year and a half, and Consuelo watches over her with such tenderness. But a second daughter meant more work, and free time became scarce. We haven't been able to return to the Marzocca group, but they understood and wait for us with hope.
As for the magazine itself, I have no complaints—only a few thoughts. The articles are useful. The letters section works well. The addresses you provide and book recommendations are genuinely helpful. You give us timely, practical information. The features on centers have been invaluable. The magazine would be even better if it came monthly.
I do have a small suggestion: I'd like to find a word to replace "handicapped"—a word that carries such weight in itself. "Disabled" is becoming more common, but I'm not sure it fits either. What if you surveyed your readers to find a term that feels better?
Marcello Di Virgilio (Matelica)
From now on, we'll make a point of using the term "disabled," which parents and educators seem to prefer. Thank you for the advice. Our warmest wishes to your wonderful family.
I Loved It at Once
I'm twenty-four and teach religion in my city. I discovered the magazine far from home—in Vittorio Veneto, during a retreat I make every year. I've always felt a special concern for our most disadvantaged brothers and sisters, especially children. So as soon as I finished reading "our magazine," I decided to subscribe. I loved it immediately because it lets you really grasp the struggles, progress, joys, and sorrows of these people. And it provides useful information of all kinds. I'm pleased to send you the names of others, hoping they'll subscribe soon. Thank you and all my best.
Barbara (Syracuse)
Enriching
I wanted to take this chance to tell you how much I admire your magazine. I find it rewarding both culturally and humanly.
It's deeply enriching. I find material for reflection that speaks directly to my work as a caregiver in a home for girls with cognitive disabilities, and to the people I support in their own homes.
Daniela Drei (Forlì) ===FINE===