A triumph of colours, beauty and poetry. The floral creations of Alessandro Castellano, 34 years old, feed the gaze of the observer and at the same time make him happy, who with care and attention gives life to colorful stories. To confirm the satisfaction is also Carla Zanchettahis mother and member of the non-profit association LatinAutism, who participates in our interview. «Alessandro was adopted at the age of 10 after four years of foster care and since then we have worked hard so that he could be happy with us», she begins to tell.
Alessandro’s serenity is perceived by the clear flowing voice: loving and feeling loved is a gift he shares every day with his parents. «Having a disability in the family does not mean being an unfortunate family: we are happy together», Carla asserts forcefully, «with the association we organize holidays together with other parents and children: the comparison it’s a valuable experience.’
Regarding the difficulties experienced along the way, Carla recounts: «The biggest test we faced was with the school because of the rigidity that often characterizes it», he comments, «the school asks the pupils to adapt to its own system but itself is reluctant to do so towards those with a disability». And he adds: «Years ago there were difficult situations that led us to have Alessandro transferred to another school. With his classmates we have always got on well, the problems are instead derived from the fact that the blanket support hours are often short: it even happened that they called us at school to pick him up earlier ».
She herself works at school and underlines the importance of improving the front ofschool inclusion and to invest more in it, also to guarantee the continuity of the human resources involved. “It is necessary that the support teachers are specialized and prepared”, highlights the lady, “the aspect of humanity must never be lacking”. And she specifies: «The attention towards people with autism and the projects dedicated to them have certainly increased compared to thirty years ago but it remains important to focus on planning continuity as the “After us”».
Alessandro’s own parents worked hard to encourage their son’s learning as much as possible. “Today he can write and read,” he says with satisfaction.
Now Alessandro is a young man with different passions. He currently attends a day care center and is participating in an internship as part of the “Io al centro” project, where he deals with packaging ed plant labelling.
Alessandro is excited to participate in the interview. When I ask him what is the thing that excites him the most, he immediately replies: «I really like karaoke and reading, I really like fiori», accurately listing various names including those of his favorites which are lilies and gladioli. «I’m very good at making decorations with flowers», he says: the bright colors of his creations testify how much care, commitment and even emotion Alessandro gives to what he does. He confirms to me that his favorite activity is making festoons and that he would like to do it for work. Is there anything you don’t like? «When I get angry: I don’t like it! But there are times when I never get angry », he points out.
Let’s get right back to talking about beautiful things. Alessandro loves to decorate. He has recently prepared eggs for Easter, «but what I like best is making flowers», he reiterates, embracing the talent that he would like to put to use and that good landwork inclusion could grow more and more.