Speaking of “roundup” to qualify the internment of autistic people in institutions or providing for “detail of the story” by evoking the temptation of eugenics which could accompany the detection of autism in utero, Hugo Horiot set the tone. Just like the title of his book: “Autism, I accuse”. “It's a pamphlet“, he assumes. Shocking language for “fight against single thinking“.

Himself diagnosed with autism more than 35 ans, Horiot rebels and provokes to carry the voice of his people, hear autistics or Aspergers. Because there are many of them (more and more elsewhere, thanks to better diagnosis), these atypical, has claim and defend their difference as they have done elsewhere, people with reduced mobility, homosexuals or people of color. “The approach is similar, continues Horiot. There is a form of cognitive racism against our community. It's time for the Ghost to wake up!”

The Spectre? Increasingly recognized as a genetic type specificity, autism can take on a wide spectrum of different shades.

For simplicity, there where, in early childhood, the typical brain will begin to filter and sequence the information it receives, that of the atypical does not do this and develops its connections differently. This mass of information obviously generates inconveniences and handicaps.. But at the same time, atypical people also develop extremely specialized skills in certain areas, often inversely proportional to behavioral disabilities.

Between the mute individual with a shifty gaze, who cannot repress his swaying, the silent person who avoids social relationships as much as possible and the one who experiences “only” hypersensitivity to noise or light, we're talking about the autism spectrum. What to do with it, for Horiot and some of his peers, the idea of ​​an informal organization, in a nod to James Bond.

Josef Schovanec prefers the notion ofAutistan. Multi-graduate, speaking 7 LANGUAGES, great traveler and writer, he regularly gives his “object lessons” in his metallic and monotone voice in chronicles on Europe 1. “Autistan is not an imaginary country like that of Peter Pan. It's a concept that brings together all our peers under the same umbrella.” For folklore, Autistan has its flag, crossed out with blue bands (the color that soothes autistic people) and white, struck by a prism of 24 colors to show all the diversity of the profile.

Schovanec wants to be as militant as Horiot. In another form of language, more polite, but the bottom is the same. “Today's society is becoming terribly tougher. There is much less room for the atypical. In older times, there were shepherds, hermits, genius DIYers leaning over their workbench without a word. There was a place for the unusual. Today, because we are more antisocial than others, we sometimes live in very harsh and very precarious conditions.“

Iron?

François Delcoux East “ambassador of Autistan” in Belgium, like Hugo Horiot is in France. When we meet him, his door opens before we even find the doorbell. “I heard a car that I didn't know. I suspected it was you“, he said with a warm smile. The house is a permanent construction site through which you have to make your way. “This is part of the autistic condition“, recognizes Delcoux, who survives thanks to a minimum integration income (RMI). He also overcomes the difficulties he encounters to give conferences and speak out for autistic people. “Proud to be autistic? That does not make sense. We are as we are born.” Autistic and proud of it… the readily caricatured expression made Schovanec jump. “Can we be proud to measure 1,90 m, to be blond or Belgian. These are notions that are completely foreign to us.”

To describe how the autistic brain works, we therefore speak of a another form of intelligence or neurodivergence compared to neurotypicals, supposed to represent the norm. “Autism has nothing to do with Rain Man. This character also presents a totally different syndrome. We are not learned monkeys!“, affirms Schovanec. But this difference gives the atypicals a another perception of reality and an another perspective on the problems, which covers the blind spots left by neurotypicals. “This is quite obvious in terms of cybersecurity For example. The atypical person will see the flaw that the neurotypicals had not seen. And hackers often have an atypical side…“, points out Frédéric Vezon, founder of Aspertise, which employs around fifteen atypical people in IT consulting.

Skills and qualities

This is the whole message that autistic cause activists want to convey.. By relegating autistic people, Asperger's and other neurodivergents in the box “disabled to attend” of our very standardized society, we deprive ourselves of skills and human qualities that are valuable in the professional environment. Great creators or inventors, who revolutionized the world, are now recognized as having disorders linked to the autism spectrum: Nikola Tesla, Einstein, Edison, Newton…

Julie Mousty had a particularly chaotic schooling, interrupted in the middle of secondary school. Which in no way prevents him from being passionate about behavioral psychology.. “When I'm in my books, I can stay there for hours, literally without looking up. It’s obviously a little complicated when you have to conform to a schedule or a social life, but as a result I can assimilate a lot of material in a short time“, she notices.

This is one of the characteristics of atypical people: l’hyperfocus on certain interests, sometimes very sharp or even incongruous. But it is not the only one.

We also point out the very high precision and the Attention to detail in the tasks accomplished. “You will never see an atypical add one gram too much in a recipe, this can be valuable in a sector like chemicals for example“, note Hide and seek. With the corollary, the perfectionism which pushes them to look for the last carat (“which does not necessarily go hand in hand with productivism…“, warns Delcoux). And then, it's almost a cliché, the propensity to Calcutta and to the computer programming.

Shelter insiste sur d'other human qualities: probity, reliability, loyalty… “We are incapable of concealment or lies. Imagine a world where everyone behaves the same way? It might be a little lacking in filters, but wouldn't we gain from it??“

So many professional and human qualities that are theoretically very valuable on the job market. So why don't we find more atypical people in companies??

Education

“How to succeed in establishing yourself or even just integrating into society when you don't have the basic knowledge, whatever the intelligence“, s'insurge Hideout. The problem therefore begins with teaching.

Like Julie Mousty, François Delcoux followed a complicated education in general education. “When I gave a well-documented presentation on dinosaurs in 1re primary, the teacher warned my parents because my vocabulary was too rich and too knowledgeable for my age. çIt was the beginning of mockery and rejection by my fellow students.“, Delcoux explains..

“Petite, I was described psychologically as stupid. My mother fought for me to stay in general education. From delay to stall, I ended up leaving school for medical reasons in 2esecondary“, says Mousty.

The difficulty of integration therefore begins at a very young age., because teaching is not always adapted. learning, when possible, is therefore done alone according to one's interests, generating excessive specializations like gaping gaps. Independent learning, while most autistic people display an IQ below average. “Unless the classic intelligence quotient tests are not adapted to our intelligence…“, Horiot noted.

“There is a great divergence of approach on how to integrate different people into teaching. Italy practices fully inclusive education; in Belgium, Hasselt is quite advanced in this area. But this varies greatly from one region or even from one city to another.“, note encore Skovanec.

Horiot is more virulent in his analysis. For him, institutionalization (the placement) atypical people are part of a gigantic market. “Not in the marketing sense of the term, where the atypical would constitute a target audience, but because this support, which is not always necessary, generates social assistance and therefore enormous financial interest!“

Social hardship

In the facts, for atypical adults, it is often a struggle and dependence on social benefits. François Delcoux, which benefits from a RMI, has been struggling for weeks to get a paid job in the non-profit organization “Autistic people in action“, but it gets stuck at the administrative level. “I hope this has nothing to do with my autistic condition.!“

Julie Mousty depends on the mutual as disabled, her husband is unemployed. “Our life… It’s a total mess! We take it day by day. It’s obviously very precarious. Our goal is not to remain dependent on an allocation system.” HAS 28 ans, Julie Mousty has just resumed classes to pass her CESS then is considering university in psychology, with a specialization in behavioral disorders, his favorite subject.

How to achieve monetize your hyperfocus? This is the crucial question that arises for an autistic person who wants to work. “There is probably no point in hoping for employment for all.. It's just not always possible, but it remains the best way to integrate into typical society. To have a status in this society. Things are moving but for certain more socialized profiles. It's even harder for others“, notes Schovanec with a certain bitterness. Especially since very often, the teasing that we already suffered in schoolyards turns into harassment in the world of work. Julie Mousty had the cruel experience.

Silicon Valley

Pioneer in the field, Silicon Valley is increasingly targeting this type of profile. Selon Tony Attwood, specialized psychologist, quoted by Horiot, Silicon Valley would have nearly 50% autistic or Asperger’s among its engineers. Normal, believes Frédéric Vezon: “Silicon Valley was largely created by autistic profiles. Gates, Jobs, Zuckerberg are often described as people on the autism spectrum. Most Silicon Valley companies have broken the hierarchical and highly formatted corporate model, in which the atypical does not feel good.“

And Israel, the army is also recruiting Specter profiles, for data analysis in particular and some universities encourage autistic intelligence. We are indeed witnessing a surge in the number of atypicals in companies that are realizing their potential.. “And this no longer only concerns early adopters. We are in a second phase”, notes the consultant again. A still very relative surge since in France 1% barely 400.000 autistic adults work.

At our place, a quick overview of the advertisements and job offers gives an idea of ​​the reality on the ground: barely two advertisements out of nearly a hundred point to autistic character in the candidate selection criteria.

Diagnosed with Asperger's following his son's diagnosis, Frédéric Vezon is a “serial entrepreneur” in France and Canada. With the support of an investment fund, A few months ago, he launched a consultancy company which today employs around fifteen people, all atypical. The company specializes in artificial intelligence, big data or cybersecurity, so many branches where the expertise of the atypical is almost a cliché. “Our clients are part of the CAC 40. And the number of our consultants should double or triple over the year as demand is strong“, rejoices Vezon. Other companies of this type are emerging on both sides of the Atlantic.

In Belgium, the Antwerp company Easter work is based on the same consultancy model. Its consultants worked in particular on the development of the Stib security gates. Paaswerk is currently carrying out a recruitment mission for security agents specializing in X-ray screening.

Fear

More, it must be recognized, autism, probably even more so than other disabilities, creates fear in the company. “We have the feeling that for people with reduced mobility, we know what needs to be done to facilitate their integration. Mental or psychological disability impresses much more, as if it were potentially dangerous“, Horiot noted.

And as for teaching, the main obstacle to hiring neurodivergent people is at the base: how to find them? There is no database linked to specific skills.

“The classic recruitment scheme, ad-resume-interview, does not suit us. We have to find another way“, affirms Schovanec. Specific recruitment for Spectrum profiles at Microsoft proved to be a failure due to lack of candidates, recalls Vezon. “Job interviews, It’s a lousy fool’s game: we measure social skills and not real own abilities“, insists Delcoux.

Where did he say it?, autistic people have few filters, his speech is rather crude and he cannot hide. Difficult in these conditions to succeed in an interview where you have to present yourself in your best light., even if it means embellishing things. “We cannot count on a feeling of competition from autistic people to put themselves forward. We do not have, most of the time, no awareness of our performance or feelings of pride. Why become a manager? Why earn more money?”, s'interroge Skovnec. “A candidate cybersecurity consultant has proven himself to be a formidable expert in bolckchain; he had classified this competitiontence among his hobbies…“, remembers Vezon.

Social networks

In a society that is increasingly connected and also said to be increasingly autistic to the extent that everyone withdraws into themselves, the atypical could find more of their place. In any case, communication networks give them complementary tools. “Emails, Skype or social media offers new perspectives for those of us for whom direct verbal communication is a problem, reconnoiter Schovanec. But provided you are able or have learned to write an email.” These tools obviously allow more telework to atypical people, which will save them from having to deal with public transport, the noise, promiscuity and change of environment. So many stressors and disruptions. “The Internet is to autistic people what sign language is to deaf people.“, says Hugo Horiot, which relays the rumor that Wikipedia is largely controlled and managed by autistic people.

As for social networks, and Facebook in particular, our witnesses remain circumspect. “Even though it was created by Zuckerberg to solve certain communication problems, it must be recognized that today, the network has above all become a narcissistic tool in which we do not find ourselves at all“, conclude Skovnec.