In this month of autism, I want to talk about Leonardo. Léonard will soon be 9 years old and he is like the Little Prince, he is autistic.
Posted at 1:00 p.m.
I know that this sentence may surprise more than one. You may have to have had the chance to be in public with an autistic child to adhere to my theory. What I took for a beautiful childlike candor while reading The little Prince is now neuroatypical for me.
Leonardo is always catapulted to planets he does not understand, whose social codes he ignores.
On vacation in a rented cabin, at a restaurant, or simply at the dairy to buy a watermelon slush, the only flavor he likes.
At school, it is not simpler. Leonardo has no place there, he can never feel comfortable there. Performing too well to go to an adaptation class, but with a rigidity sometimes leading him to take refuge under his desk. The education system was not designed for little princes. Never mind, every morning, he leaves the house reluctantly, his bag too heavy on his back.
If you ask him what was the best moment of his day, he will quickly answer: “Coming home! His answer remains the same, it’s like school, it doesn’t change.
Little Prince Leonard trying to tame a benevolent vixen, who tells him step by step how to make a friend. His own vixen is his cousin. With her, he seems to feel free and confident enough to be himself. He is able to weave, strand by strand, a real friendship over the years. Taming takes time, even more so for Leonardo.
I am very lucky to meet him, to see him grow, to see him evolve in a world that is not his own, on this planet that is foreign to him. I am also very lucky to be the mother of his vixen who knew he was different. For her part, she has always navigated with ease from one planet to another. Combine their two worlds.
I hope the weather will bring as many airmen ready to interact with Leonardo as possible. Giving him the opportunity to present his way of seeing the world. This quote from Antoine de Saint-Exupéry sums up how sometimes we can feel when faced with difference: “I didn’t really know what to say. I felt very awkward. I didn’t know how to reach him, where to join him. It’s simple though, little princes like Leonardo can be reached with time, patience, open-mindedness and love.