By Louis Pinçonnet & Laura Déan
Summary: Bruno and Malik, directors of two different associations, have been living in a world apart for twenty years, that of children and adolescents with severe autism. By working as a team, Bruno hosts children and adolescents with autism while Malik trains young people in precarious situation to cope with these “complicated cases”. An unusual work for outstanding humans.
“Hors-normes” is a film released in October 2019 which shows the reality of taking care of children with autism, including children with severe autism. From a scientific point of view, autism is a neuro-developmental disorder that mixes three main characteristics and specificities: an alteration of social relations, a deficit in social communication, then restricted, repetitive and stereotyped behaviours, interests and activities. Actually, people suffering from this kind of disorder don’t have always the same way of “functioning”. For instance, some of them may be mute, while others can speak well, some may have a lot of difficulties to discuss with someone, and some others may have an intellectual disability or exceptional skills. Moreover, some of them may have behavioural problems or a kind of particular sensitivity (noises, lights…). Autism is characterized by a spectrum of symptoms, heterogeneous, variable at different degrees. So, we have indeed to remember that whatever the trouble, each person is singular.
Why do you have to go and watch “Hors-Normes”?
“Hors-Normes” highlights the issue of the very severe autism. It shows us how difficult the appropriate care done by the medico-social teams can be. According to Joseph’s mother in the film (a young adolescent with severe autism): “there are those who do not look at you anymore, there are those who do not listen anymore, and then there are the others. And believe me, they are not many”.
This is not a documentary or a presentation of autism. However, this film is a humanitarian masterpiece emphasizing mutual aid, the importance of human relations, support, kindness, perseverance and hope. It highlights friendship, the link created between educators and young people with autism and also between all the members of associations. Finally, the film discusses the question of autism through the work of associations, educators and human relationships. The severity of this disorder is shown positively and kindly.
This film points out the hard reality of, on the one hand, the care of autism by reporting the lack of financial means to set up a better social policy to support people with disabilities, and, on the other hand, the difficulty to accept and include in society people who are “out of the ordinary”. Thus, two associations working together are mentioned: La Voix des Justes, which hosts children with severe autism and which, as the doctor says in the film, “meets the emergency needs”. And the other one, l’Escale, which tries to reintegrate young people who came from poor districts, by training them to develop skills in order to help the children who have been hosted by La Voix des Justes. This film makes us think about the question of the inclusion of handicap in society, by showing the lives of these children, their families, and the educators. As the film « Rain Man », in which high-level of autism is shown, the challenge of “Hors-Normes” was to represent as faithfully as possible the lives of families faced with autism.
To conclude, this film is not a ready-made solution to care autistic children. It is important to keep in mind that autism can be a disaster for the person who suffers and for his/her family, even if this film make us feel like forgetting the sad side of reality. By the way, some aspects such as educational support (communication tools, work on sensory difficulties…) are just partially addressed. Nevertheless, the main goal of this film is to make autism better known by a wider public, a film for all those who are curious about this disability, and which raises awareness of this question.
Words we have learned:
To host = accueillir/recevoir
A masterpiece = un chef-d’oeuvre
Care = Accompagnement
Faithfully = fidèlement
Wider = large
Raise awareness = se sensibiliser à …