The government launches an autism awareness campaign with personalities directly concerned

Comedians Paul Mirabel and Elie Semoun, actor Francis Perrin and writer Paul El Kharrat will appear in television clips intended to “better understand” this disability.

It’s a cause that is close to their hearts. The comedians Paul Mirabel and Elie Semoun, the actor Francis Perrin and the writer Paul El Kharrat are featured in a television campaign launched by the government, Tuesday April 2, on the occasion of World Awareness Day. autism, a neurodevelopmental disorder.

“There are 700,000 autistic people in France”recalled Fadila Khattabi, Minister Delegate in charge of People with Disabilities, presenting this campaign. “We want to help society better understand how these people evolve and understand that their exclusion is unjustified. People with disabilities are fellow citizens in their own right… and not apart.”

Some artists involved in these three clips are parents of autistic children, such as Elie Semoun, Francis Perrin and screenwriter Minh Tran Huy. Others have a brother affected by this disorder, like Paul Mirabel, while Paul El Kharrat, champion of “Douze Coups de Midi” on TF1, was himself diagnosed with Asperger’s.

Hypersensitivity and communication difficulties

“There are as many forms of autism as there are autistic people”but there are “collective specificities” which are highlighted in these clips to make this disorder “more visible and more readable”, explains director and co-writer Hélène Grémillon. The campaign therefore focuses specifically on the communication difficulties of autistic people and their sensory hypersensitivity.

“I experience the lack of knowledge about autism every day. My neighbor told me to put a straitjacket on my son and send him to an asylum because he was making too much noise”testified co-writer Minh Tran Huy. “No, autism is not the result of exposure to screens. No, autism is not caused by parents. No, autism does not have a psychoanalytic origin”underlines Fadila Khattabi.

The three clips, available on YouTube, are broadcast from April 2 on television channels (France TV, M6, Canal+, etc.) and in some 200 cinemas and on social networks.