Ombre e Luci speaks first and foremost to parents of children with handicaps. We exist to offer them help and support. We want to build friendships where isolation and exclusion often take hold; to listen to real needs, restore strength and courage, rekindle hope—even when it seems gone. That is why we have always chosen to publish reassuring, hopeful articles rather than tragic or sensational ones. We focus on the light more than the shadows.
Our usual approach is to select topics that deepen understanding of different kinds of handicap, complete with sound advice on education; to reflect on common human concerns in light of the Gospel; to report on existing services and initiatives, highlighting the good ones so they become models that parents and friends might emulate if they want to start something new themselves.
After eight years, we need to step back and check in with you. We are asking for a small commitment—a brief survey—whose answers will be invaluable as we continue our work and decide whether Ombre e Luci deserves to survive.
Survey
The questions on the center pages of this issue are designed to give us a clear picture of your family situations, your real needs, what you hope for. We have several reasons for asking.
- To publish articles that directly answer your most pressing concerns right now.
- To gather precise information about the services and support you lack or cannot find; about your most urgent needs. Armed with this data, we can then bring your voice to the forums where we are increasingly invited to speak—both as Fede e Luce and as Ombre e Luci. In recent years we have represented you at: a working group on family homes convened by the Ministry of Health and Social Affairs; a city council on disability; a conference on religious education and handicap; a conference on families living with handicap at Policlinico Gemelli; a conference on the education of autistic children at the University of Rome. We also try to carry your needs to bishops and civic leaders who are particularly sensitive to the question of suffering. Your survey responses will help us choose which conferences and meetings to attend, so that your concerns are heard.
- To ask for your collaboration—from those of you who are dealing directly with certain challenges—in writing articles that others need to read.
Your answers will also tell us whether this magazine matters to you, whether you want to keep receiving it. Our work will have meaning, strength, and encouragement only if we know that it matters to you.
We want to thank all of you who have contributed articles and photographs over these years. We hope many of you will respond soon!
- Mariangela Bertolini, 1991