During the festival of books "Kraina, which took place in Kyiv, at the presentation of the children's book "Arsen", authored by Iren Rozdobudko, another children's writer, Lesya Voronina, addressed a 12-year-old boy with autism, who, in her opinion, prevented the author from communicating with other participants of the meeting, calling him "a creature that attracts attention." Later, she apologized and explained that she did not know about the child's illness. This was reported by the director of the "Skarb" school, Oksana Andreeva, on her Instagram, writes UNN.
Details
Schoolchildren from the private Christian school "Skarb" visited the book event. Lesya Voronina, who was presenting her novel "The Secret Society of Cowards or the Remedy for Fear No. 9", spoke towards one of the 6th grade students who was present in the hall, saying: "This creature attracts attention."
The director of the educational institution reacted to this incident with a post on her social networks, stating that no child should hear such words in their direction.
A boy who has special developmental needs. A boy who came to ask questions, listen to authors, and be part of the event. As the head of the school, I cannot remain silent. I cannot leave this without reaction. Because I believe: no child should ever and nowhere - should hear such words in their direction. And especially - at the presentation of children's books. This is unacceptable
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The boy's mother also commented on the incident, adding that his classmates supported her son, who has a special feature in the form of autism, and called such behavior by the author unacceptable.
"Yesterday, my son and his class went to the presentation of a children's book to have the opportunity to talk to the author and buy new books to read. The author of children's books, Lesya Voronina, was present at the event with them. Unfortunately, her remark rang out in the hall: "a creature that attracts attention." Classmates did not ignore this - they supported Tymofiy, expressing that such words are offensive and unacceptable. The class teacher tried to smooth out the situation, trying to explain that he is a child with autism and there are peculiarities of communication. To which Lesya Voronina replied that it was already clear. The school tried to contact the author through social networks, but she, as during the meeting, chose to ignore," - wrote Victoria Kravchenko.
She also added that her son has the makings of a genius and at the age of 9 he could mentally multiply three- and four-digit numbers, play the piano, picking up notes by ear, and can quickly and accurately name the date of any event in his life.
Victoria also emphasized that her 12-year-old child received a diploma of a record holder, becoming part of the establishment of the record together with Body and brain in the Guinness Book of Records of Ukraine.
I do not understand why in the modern world an adult considers bullying behavior to be the norm. What example does Lesya Voronina set for the new generation, which, by the way, is more humane and attentive to others. People with autism are the same people, just a little different, with absolute kindness
Later, the author of children's books, Lesya Voronina, made a post on Facebook, in which she called the incident a "disappointing situation" and explained that she did not know about the boy's illness.
"I didn't know the boy was autistic! At the Book Country, during the presentation of Iren Rozdobudko's book "Arsen", I got into a very unpleasant situation, which I have to explain. Hearing that a boy was actively reacting to the author's speech, preventing her from communicating with other participants of the meeting, I made a sharp remark to him, explaining that in this way he was trying to attract attention and humiliate the person who was speaking. Unfortunately, I did not know that there were several children with special needs present at this meeting. We were not warned about this," - wrote she.
The author added that she regrets that she did not talk to the teacher and Tymofiy immediately after the meeting and did not apologize to them.
I want to sincerely apologize to Tymofiy - to his mother, and to everyone who was hurt by my ignorance and sharp reaction to the child's cries, who, of course, did not want to offend anyone
Iren Rozdobudko, at the presentation of whose work the incident occurred, stood on Voronina's side, explaining that she "could not have noticed the boy with special educational needs", because she was sitting on the side. Supposedly, that's why she made a remark to him.
"But after the teacher made it clear that this was a special boy, she apologized. And the meeting went on. And all the children were active, wonderful, cheerful. Tymofiy was next to me, watching how I signed books and everything was fine. And after that, Lesya and I discussed for a long time how good it is that children are supported, we talked about the fact that the boy is talented - writes scripts, plays the piano and wished him good luck in every way. That's why I'm now reading about this misunderstanding with pain," - she wrote and added that Voronina is a very good person "not only as a writer, but as a volunteer."
"Please, if you need to apologize publicly - I'm doing it! All the stones - please! - in me. It was MY presentation," - summarized she.