"It disorients neurodivergent children." Controversy erupts in Cagliari over the colorful school street on Via Partigiani. In a question submitted to the city council, Pierluigi Mannino, leader of the FdI group , singles out the newly inaugurated street.
The harshest attack refers to the entire straight road surface, painted with highly saturated colors (magenta/fuchsia, pure yellow, electric blue, acid green) and featuring a concentric wave pattern that creates an optical illusion of movement and a wave-like path: "The school road is dedicated to girls and boys, including students with autism, ADHD, learning disabilities, neurodevelopmental disorders, dyspraxia, photosensitive epilepsy, vestibular disorders, and anxiety. The international literature on evidence-based design for autism is unanimous: avoiding bright, saturated colors and strong contrasts is a basic condition for inclusiveness ."
He then asks the mayor "on what technical, pedagogical, and Universal Design guidelines was a hyper-saturated palette and an optical illusion pattern of waves chosen along a path that should by definition be clear, stable, orderly, and predictable? And whether he doesn't believe that such strong colors and a straight path made perceptually wavy and unstable by the color constitute a factor in sensory overload, anxiety, and the risk of seizures in neurodivergent children, for whom excessive stimuli are a documented cause of stress and discomfort."
Finally, he asked whether the risks for children with photosensitive epilepsy and visual hypersensitivity associated with high-contrast patterns have been considered, and whether he intends to provide, because of the Partisans, a corrective intervention with soft, opaque, non-reflective, low-contrast colors and with linear, clear ground signage, as recommended by the autism-friendly guidelines.
The attack isn't limited to technical features, but also targets communication . According to the councilor from Giorgia Meloni's party, parts of the press release such as "The event is open to all. [...] are more than welcome." are "not in accordance with the Italian language" and "the Accademia della Crusca has repeatedly rejected the use of asterisks and schwas in institutional communications, because they are signs with no corresponding meaning in spoken language, and the Mim has ordered a ban in official communications." Mannino is asking for the text to be corrected and for asterisks and schwas to be banned in all municipal communications.
(Unioneonline/En.ne.)
