{"id":1716,"date":"2021-02-19T16:25:40","date_gmt":"2021-02-19T15:25:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/svjmedia.nl\/internationaljournalism\/?p=1716"},"modified":"2021-02-19T16:33:36","modified_gmt":"2021-02-19T15:33:36","slug":"marcia-castillo-since-an-early-age-children-with-functional-diversity-suffer-the-hostile-look-of-society","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/svjmedia.nl\/internationaljournalism\/1716\/marcia-castillo-since-an-early-age-children-with-functional-diversity-suffer-the-hostile-look-of-society\/","title":{"rendered":"Marcia Castillo: \u201cSince an early age, children with functional diversity suffer the hostile look of society\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"
For Gabriela, Sundays have been different for the last 6 years. She follows the ritual of any dancer; she dresses up with her maillot and ties her hair up. Ready for the lesson, she walks into the dance academy with enthusiasm and, holding the barre, she practices the dance steps that at the end of the course she will perform in one of the most important theatres in her city. Something that she would never have imagined, as she had been forbidden from because of her cerebral palsy.<\/strong><\/p>\n “My daughter always tells me that she is happy when she is on the stage because people can look at her and see that she is not so different from others,” explains Marcia Castillo, mother of Gabriela, a 14-year-old girl who has muscle stiffness caused by a brain lesion. “Since an early age, children with functional diversity suffer the hostile look of society. It’s hard to find activities in which they can participate until I found Balletvale+,” Castillo says.<\/p>\n Balletvale+ is a project from Valencia that organizes adapted classical dance classes for children with reduced mobility, such as cerebral paralysis or other disabilities. Through ballet classes, students can improve their posture, balance, and selective body control. During these classes, they are supported by physiotherapists and professional dancers, who voluntarily help the children to perform the proposed exercises when is required. At the end of the course, the teachers organize a show where the students with and without functional diversity share the stage on an equal status. “In this way, all the children get used to the idea that the world is made up of different people and that there is no reason to be afraid of differences,” explains Marcia Castillo.<\/p>\n