Our topics in November
Dear readers
On 4 September I received an e-mail from Miriam Bettschen from Frutigen BE: «I read your report on autism with great interest. You have hit the nail on the head! Two of my children and the father of my children suffer from autism. We desperately want an autism assistance dog for our seven-year-old son Joel. In Switzerland, we have been waiting years for such a dog. But the dog would be important and necessary for Joel now. Please help us.»
The letter was accompanied by an appeal for donations, with which Mrs Bettschen had collected money from friends, relatives and foundations - with little success: instead of the 34,500 francs needed for the training and purchase of an autism assistance dog, only 4,000 francs were raised.
«It's difficult for Joel to deal with emotions and react appropriately,» says the mum of three. «Our son is quickly flooded with stimuli. The smallest changes throw him off course. Then he screams, throws objects around, hits himself.»
Experts estimate that a companion dog can reduce autistic people's seizures by half. «If Joel has a seizure and hides under the duvet, the dog would gently lie down on Joel on my command; first just on his legs, then on his whole body,» says Miriam Bettschen. «It's well known that autistic people can't feel anything during seizures. They need resistance. The pressure of the dog calms them down.»
The Elternsein Foundation, publisher of the Swiss parenting magazine Fritz+Fränzi, is helping Miriam Bettschen to finance her great wish. Our author Sarah King has written about how the family got their companion dog and how you can help.
«If you promise us that you won't believe everything your child says about school, we promise you that we won't believe everything your child says about home.»
Note on the blackboard in an Austrian primary school, written on the occasion of a parents' evening.
parents' evening.
On our own behalf: Twice a year, WEMF AG publishes the MACH-Basic readership study, which provides information on which newspapers and magazines are losing readers. And which ones are gaining. An overview of the figures for our magazine:
21 per cent more readers within one year
(MACH-Basic 2017-2: 178,000 vs. MACH-Basic 2016-2: 147,000)
34 per cent increase in paid circulation compared to the previous year
(WEMF circulation bulletin 2017: 24,846 copies vs. 2016: 18,572 copies)
Increase in paid circulation compared to 2015 by a whopping 143 per cent
(basis 2015: 10,224 copies)
Your popularity makes us proud. And motivates us to continue being a loyal companion to you in the future. Thank you very much for your trust.
Yours, Nik Niethammer
