This year for Rare Disease Day we thought of doing something to raise awareness about the many people (young and old) living with a rare disease.

The project "Unici e Speciali" was made possible thanks to the Istituto Comprensivo "Via Palestro" in Abbiategrasso (MI). Teachers Laura and Jessica contributed to the project by creating a beautifully illustrated story. The story was presented to the 4 year old children by Martina, who manages various community projects here at enGenome.

The story talks about a kid that has some special needs, one of them is that he can’t run where there are flowers and eat the cookies made with normal flour. This boy seems different to other kids and for this reason no one ever asked his name. One day a kind girl became his friend and they had a brilliant idea: they could cook a lot of cookies made with special flour for the whole classroom! The next day the kids were so happy to eat those special cookies and finally they asked the name of the boy. This kid was unique and special, but they discovered that every kid is special in their own way!

The children asked many questions about the role of the scientist and how scientists can help special children. Scientists can invent special flour for the kids who can’t eat normal flour and invent special devices to filter the air and let the kids play near the flowers.

We told the children that every day we look for new solutions that doctors can use to help special children. Doctors and scientists do all they can everyday to make positive change for children and adults alike!