Journal 13/19

1. The contribution of sensory integration to children with autistic spectrum disorders
2. The originality of the sensory perception on the behaviour of autistic people
3. A study of visuo-motor functions in persons with intellectual disability
4. Sexuality and mental disability
 

2. The originality of the sensory perception on the behaviour of autistic people

The perception of the environment is the basis of our empirical knowledge of the outside world. Passed through the filter of learning, memories, personal experiences, it gives meaning to what is observed and is a prerequisite for any action. We review the five senses as described by people with autism, in order to show that they often perceive the environment through a filter system that can reduce or enhance certain senses, or even mix them (synesthesia). As a result, the coding of their sensations can differ significantly from that of so-called "neurotypical" people. Regarding the sense of touch, many people with autism do not support contact with other people, even with certain clothes. On the contrary, others feel good only in tight clothes or tight spaces. The senses of taste and smell show the predominance of hypersensitivity of autistic people, which generally makes them prefer foods that are bland or not very fragrant to avoid sensory saturation. The sense of hearing seems to have an antagonistic treatment. Most people with autism seek calm because they cannot regulate the sound flow that reaches them, but this deregulation also affects some low-intensity sounds, such as hubbub, which are then perceived as invasive. The sense of sight can be perturbated by hallucinations, making it difficult to understand the outside world, whether it is the sense of orientation or the difficulty of recognizing faces. The representation of the outside world by autistic people is therefore often strongly altered, even distorted, which affects their way of being and acting. Knowledge of this particular mode of perception should help explain some of the absurd behaviors of people with autism and take this into account to better guide their care.

Keywords: autism, perception, sense, dysperception, synesthesia

4. Sexualité et handicap mental

This work describes and discusses situations that are about 10 years old, the reality has changed in several directions. The usefulness of this presentation is quite simply and modestly to make people think about human conditions of residents but also educators, as well as the regulations that had tried to give space to the privacy and emotional needs of people with disabilities. A look at the past can help to calm down critical work because it is less caught up in passions and partisanship and therefore more useful and adequate.

Sexuality is a right recognized for every human being. There are as many sexualities as there are individuals. From these two statements flows a third one, namely that people with disabilities have the right to sexuality and emotional life.

This raises an important question: in the institution, in the professional practice of the educator, what attitude to adopt, how to support the sexual and emotional life, whatever it may be, of the residents?

It is not a question of studying the sexuality of disabled people, of looking for the behaviour of a particular resident, but of knowing, as an accompanying professional, as an authority, how to accompany the resident, as we do for his other needs, food, health, leisure, work and others.

« We are not born disabled, we become disabled through the eyes of others and through social norms. » How do we look at people with disabilities? What is the weight of the latter and its role in marginalization, what interrogations and integration for these dependent people? « How can we educate people's visions, change their mentalities and their reductive images? »

Being disabled is neither a choice nor a natural state, it is an experience often carried over a lifetime, a continuous adaptation, sometimes made difficult because of inadequate means. In this context, is sexuality a legitimate right to which the person with a disability can claim? If so, what can be done and how far can it go in the case of people with severe disabilities, who request it, in the most satisfactory way possible? Some countries have responded to it, and whether or not we agree with it, it does exist.

Keywords: Sexuality, mental disability, human rights, emotional life, intimacy

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