«DSA means thinking in a different and unconventional way. You can achieve incredible results in life like anyone else, based on countless reasons: passion, commitment, opportunity, determination, sacrifice ». For the Festival del Futuro we interviewed Andrea Pesando, 31 years old, graduated in Civil Engineering, in International Sciences for development and cooperation, in Political Sciences and Government, in Area & Global Studies for international cooperation and in Intégration et gouvernance européenne, qualifications that he obtained between Italy is France. “While I was graduating - he told us - I did an internship at the European Parliament in Brussels, in the unit that deals with the management of energy efficiency in buildings. The next destination is Belgium, at the College of Europe, to do a professionalizing Master. I want to work as a European official ».
Andrea Pesando: dyslexia does not explain everything
When dealing with issues related to DSA (so-called Specific Attention Disorders: dyslexia, dyscalculia is dysgraphia) still there are fundamental misunderstandings in public opinion. There are even those who still label this characteristic as a disease, mistakenly. Andrew Weighing he found out he had it when he was in college. "Of course, despite my dyslexia I have achieved better results than others", but for him it is not this condition that has defined his path.
"I am aware - he wrote to us in an email at the end of theinterview - of the enormous privilege I had: from family to the possibility of traveling and studying, from the public university system of excellent quality at a negligible cost to the support of friends and relatives to whom I owe everything. I know: few have had my opportunities. My merit was to grasp them all, without ever stopping to study with passion and determination. But that's not enough: success is never individual and I am grateful and grateful to my country for the opportunities received ».
Inclusion: from study to the world of work
Andrea Pesando is training to work within European institutions and the occasion of this interview was also useful to understand how he lived his path formative. "In Italy I felt good - he commented - The real problem is that the law protects the right to study of those with a learning disability, but remains confined to the school world. When we talk about excellent programs and public competitions, everything becomes more complicated ». In the meantime, this Italian talent continues to cultivate all his passions outside the studio. "I'm preparing an IROMAN in Maastricht: 180km cycling and 3.6km swimming marathon, scheduled for July 2022. Exactly one week after I finish college."
by Alessandro Di Stefano
