The second edition of athletics adapted for children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) was held this Sunday in the Buenos Aires town of Villa Domínico, organized by the Athletics Team of the National University of Avellaneda (Undav) and the Osvaldo Suárez Athletic Group.
The meeting took place from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the facilities of the High Performance Sports Complex, inside Parque Domínico, and included adapted athletics disciplines, such as shot put, which was carried out with a ball and javelin throwing with PVC pipes, in addition to races on the track, with shorter distances than the conventional ones, and an athletic lap of 400 meters.
The proposal arose from the initiative of Jonatan Santillan and Solange Sadoctwo athletics trainers who are part of the Undav university volunteer service and was organized by the Athletics Team of the same university and the Osvaldo Suárez Athletic Group, who was an Argentine long-distance runner who won four gold medals in the Pan American Games and passed away in 2018.
“I am one of the organizers of projects at the university in which we work with autism associations in Avellaneda and have the support of other institutions such as High Fitness, the Federal Network, the taekwondo school and the ecological police,” she told Télam. Zadok.
The coach said that they began working on the project last year, through “a call for volunteers, both inside and outside the university and we held the first event in September.”
Meanwhile, Soledad Godoy, mother of two boys with autism, participated with a group of women who have been accompanying her for several years and define themselves as “false aunts”: “they have been accompanying and supporting me from the moment of diagnosis to here “, said.
“Agustín, 11 years old, was diagnosed at three, and Isidro, who is 8, at two and a half. Since Agus’s birth we had symptoms that we did not know about, until one day, in a nursery, they saw these symptoms and told me They sent to see the neurologist,” the mother explained.
“With the diagnosis of autism, the whole path of treatment began and as a result of that I was bringing people with me; first it was Sandra, and my friend Flavia was the second. Then Majo and Nadia joined in all the way and the process of these years “
Agustín and Isidro “are doing sports on Saturdays and Mondays, through the municipality that has the inclusive sports project and adapted to all patients and children with different disabilities.”
“They go to soccer and athletics at the Néstor Kirchner Sports Center, and at the Delfo Cabrera Sports Center they do inclusive swimming, with super-committed teachers who lavish affection and affection on them. There are a lot of boys in my children’s group doing sports,” he said.
At the Néstor Kirchner Sports Center, located at 1000 Limay Street, recreational and competitive activities are carried out with space for inclusion, aimed at boys and girls with disabilities such as Pervasive Development Disorder (TGD) and ASD, among others.
While in the Delfo Cabrera Municipal Sports Center, located at Calle Cordero 2245, you can carry out the activities of “inclusive and adapted swimming pool” and “soccer for the blind”.
For his part, Marcelo Romero, Undav sports coordinator and member of the Secretary of University Welfare, explained that “this is one of the projects launched by the Secretary of University Policies of the Ministry of Education and carried out in conjunction with civil organizations , such as the Osvaldo Suárez group, TEA parents from Avellaneda and educators for inclusion”.
“This way, we can carry a inclusive event to a very special populationwhich did not have these types of events,” he added.
The opening of the day was in charge of the musicians Rodrigo Linares and Ernesto Pérez Lisazo, members of Carriego Tango, who joined the boys and their families to interpret and dance various popular songs.
Besides music, The payamédicas who accompanied the families throughout the day also joined and there were training workshops on CPR, a taekwondo exhibition and the Olympic lap around the 400-meter trackwhere not only the boys and girls participated, but also all the associations and relatives present.
The event is recognized by the Undersecretariat for Strengthening Student Trajectories of the Ministry of Education and by the Department of Health and Physical Activity of Undav.
In turn, it has the support of the Municipality of Avellaneda, the TEA Association, the Federal Network of Avellaneda and High Fitness, among others.
At the end of the day, medals were given to all the girls and boys and it was announced that the third edition of Athletics adapted for children with ASD will be the “runner” to be held next March.
