In France, around 600,000 people have autism spectrum disorders (ASD) according to figures from the SOS Austime France association. This Saturday April 2 is World Autism Awareness Day. Considered a disability since 1996, cDisorders are the result of neurodevelopmental abnormalities and are expressed in particular by communication problems, behavioral problems, and alterations in social interactions. Sports practice can help improve their daily lives.
Sport to escape, meet, exchange. Like many other people with autism, Kevin Iapeyre could no longer do without sport today. The 26-year-old, based in Nîmes, started athletics at the age of 12. “Running allows me to escape my autism, and to decompress. Sport helps me on a daily basis. I am less nervous and I have more self-confidence”, confides the middle-distance runner, multiple champion of France in cross country and track athletics in adapted sport. Kevin Lapeyre practice in one of the 1,300 sports clubs and associations affiliated with the French Federation of Adapted Sport. Of the Federation’s 50,000 licensees, nearly 10,000 have a TSA.
People with autism have the equal right to make their own decisions & choices like everybody else.
More on Saturday’s #WorldAutismAwarenessDay: https://t.co/RuQIeTeyKG pic.twitter.com/wdwfngixyg
— United Nations (@UN) April 1, 2022
Over the years, various studies have shown the virtues of sport in people with this disorder. “The practice of regular physical activity is really beneficial for people with autism, confirms Elodie Couderc, in charge of sport and autism development, and motor activities within the French Federation of adapted sport. Physical activity will participate in the development of skills such as balance, coordination, concentration, but also has a beneficial effect on sleep and self-esteem.
Beyond the physical benefits, sport also promotes encounters and social ties. A positive effect noticed by Anne Rouleau, mother of Bastien, 22, with ASD, intellectual disability and suffering from epilepsy: “Bastien does not speak or speaks very little. But sport develops communication and facilitates exchanges with others. For example, when he plays basketball, to show that he is happy, he can pat the back of one of his teammates, recounts his mother, who has become a family caregiver to take care of her son.
Bastien got his start in sport thanks to the French Federation of adapted sport ten years ago. First with rugby, then today climbing and basketball. A flexibility of practice made possible thanks to the Federation. “When you take the license at the start of the year, you can go to any adapted sports club in your department to try out various disciplines”, Explain Anne Roll.
At the same time, her son also takes part in the dance workshops of Body and Arts at Castelsarrasin (Tarn-et-Garonne), and has access to a one-hour slot per week at the gym. In total, Bastien practices between three and four sports activities per week. A steady pace but become essential. “Without sport today, I think it would be in pain”, slice his mother. An observation that she drew after the first confinement: “It was a disaster because everything was at a standstill. We were on our own. Luckily we lived in the countryside so he did a lot of walking and tricycling. He couldn’t stay home without moving. He needed to let off steam.” she points out.
If the benefits are so numerous, it is also thanks to the notion of pleasure on which the practice is based. “If they enjoy practicing, we will have won everything”, says Elodie Couderc of the French Federation of Adapted Sport. And for the pleasure to be there, you have to let yourself be carried away by your desires. If some sports are practiced more than others by people with autism, such as swimming, climbing or trampoline, there is no limit in the choice of disciplines.
“You have to follow the will and desire of the person concerned.”
Elodie Couderc, Development Officer at the French Federation of Adapted Sportat franceinfo: sport
But if the practice develops, the appropriate places for these activities remain insufficient on the territory. “There is a lack of places in the clubs to accommodate this public, which requires reinforced supervision most of the time. Moreover, the Federation is not yet well known to the general public and the world of autism, who do not know it not as a possible place of reception”, regret Elodie Couderc.
However, any club can receive people with autism without prerequisite or the obligation to be affiliated with the French Federation of adapted sport. However, the lack of management training and ignorance of autism hinder many structures. “What is lacking in sports practice, beyond knowledge, is people who are sufficiently trained and informed about autistic functioning, which is very specific and requires training and information”, specifies Elodie Couderc. If the French Federation of adapted sport would like additional training on autism for supervisors, it has already made a guide available on its site recommendation in order to initiate the process.
However, the path remains long. “The practice of sport by people with autism depends on the will of those who supervise them”, laments Anne Rouleau. “There is still a lot of discrimination. Dn so-called ordinary clubs, in which their place is not always welcome, they will be asked to adapt or their specific needs will not be taken into account. It’s still a reality.” support Elodie Couderc. Because even today, concludes Anne Rouleau, whether in sport or elsewhere, “theutism is always scary through ignorance”.