During this month, a solidarity initiative found in tennis a concrete way to improve the school experience of children with autism and other neurodevelopmental conditions. Through the collection of disused balls, the campaign proposes a simple solution to reduce noise in classrooms and promote friendlier and more inclusive learning environments.
The proposal is called “Let’s pay attention to autism” and was driven by INECO Foundationalong with the tournament Road to Australiawith the aim of collecting unused balls to transform them into inclusion tools within the classroom. The balls are placed on the legs of school tables and chairs to reduce the noise produced when dragging them, a stimulus that is often especially annoying or dysregulating for many children with autism spectrum disorders.
The campaign was launched between the 16th and 20th of this month, within the framework of the matches played in the Buenos Aires Lawn Tennis Cluband took advantage of a logic already installed in professional tennis: the constant discarding of balls throughout each match. In each game, collection baskets were placed on one side of the field, where the ball catchers deposited the balls that were no longer used during the game.
The tournament featured the participation of top-level players, such as Cameron Norrie, Sebastián Báez and Francisco Cerúndolo, and functioned as a showcase to amplify the message of the initiative. Added to this was an awareness video starring figures from sports, journalism and entertainment, including Ricardo Darín, Andy Kusnetzoff, Federico Coria, Morena Beltrán and Germán Beder, who invited the public to join the collection during the days of the tournament.
Behind the action there is a clear idea, small modifications in the environment can have a significant impact on educational inclusion. Reducing ambient noise in the classroom not only improves concentration, but also reduces sensory stress, favoring the permanence and well-being of students. In that sense, each ball collected becomes a concrete tool to expand the number of inclusive classrooms in public schools.
The INECO Foundation highlighted that the initiative does not end in the tournament and that the objective is to sustain it throughout 2026, replicating it in other sporting events and social spheres. The campaign was developed together with the agency McCann Marketwith the intention of combining social impact, creativity and continuity over time.
The ball collection points will continue to be added throughout the year and can be consulted on the foundation’s official website. The expectation is that the symbolic gesture of “giving him the ball” will translate into more adapted classrooms and a more concrete conversation about inclusion, accessibility and neurodiversity, inside and outside the educational system.
