Social and Employment
Place
France
Sponsor
Philippe Messager
Grant
25,000 € to the Selection Committee at 2008/01/29
Project leader
Autisme 75
"This project was essentially set up by a man who, after having worked for a long time as a partner in the companies of the Veolia Environnement group, is deeply involved today in the issue of homeless people and in the area of autism, one of his family being affected by the disease. For the city of Paris alone, there are 50 files on autistic adolescents identified today without any appropriate and permanent welcome solution. We are obliged to support this initiative that is eagerly awaited by the medico-social authorities and all the players concerned."
Philippe Messager
Difficulty, even inability to communicate, aggressiveness towards oneself and others, deep anxiety: these symptoms of autism, which also vary widely from one individual to another, can only barely reflect the suffering of a family faced with this neurophysiological problem. In France, placement in a specialized structure, which is sometime indispensable, is only available to one patient out of ten due to the lack of space1.
In order to partially fill this deficiency, which is particularly cruel in the capital, the Association Autisme 75 Centre - Ile-de-France is shortly opening a welcoming facility for 22 youths aged from 12 to 20, in the 3rd arrondissement of Paris.
Welcome, support and preparation for adult life
The facility is in fact a genuine medico-educational institute, operating around some day boarding with full-boarding for five beds occupied alternately. Installed in an independent house, this system will help relieve the families one week per month and to prepare the youths and their kin better for the eventual separation when they reach adulthood.
The project enjoys the support, in their own respective domains, of the DDASS social security service, the CPAM health insurance system, the City of Paris and the departmental Home for the handicapped in Paris. The association also plans to sign agreements with other institutional players ("psychiatric inter-sector", national education, etc.), private or associative, particularly for setting up various educational projects.
Autisme 75 Centre - Ile-de-France, a member of the French Federation Sésame Autisme, very active in all events and organizations dedicated to this disease and to handicaps in general, is already credited with creating specialized educational services and a leisure centre for the youngest children. Armed with 20 years of experience in five Ile-de-France districts and with 260 members and donors, the association has put all its experience at the service of its new initiative, which meets an obvious need.
With the regional council, the city of Paris and another five partners, the Veolia foundation is participating in the investments connected with the purchase of furniture, equipment, and the outfitting of all the premises, with a total area of about 550 m2.
1 Source website autisme75, updated January 2007