In the community organization’s kitchen, Wapiti prepares meals two mornings a week. The 40-year-old man lives with autism spectrum disorder, like all of the organization’s approximately 40 users, in fact. Through these workshops, he learned to cook this spaghetti sauce, this lasagna meal or even the delicious hamburger-steak that makes his mouth water every time.
These little dishes will go to various organizations and businesses that have ordered the meals concocted by this great team. A meeting of the Community Development Corporation which needs lunches, an accommodation resource in Trois-Rivières which needs the team to feed its own clientele, or even the gang from the leisure department of the City of Shawinigan, who has developed the habit of enjoying these prepared dishes…
But if Wapiti now knows how to cook for all these people, he still has a hard time doing it for himself.
At first glance, Wapiti exudes such great self-confidence… and yet!
“It’s putting it into action that’s difficult. Anxiety stops me a lot. I have to learn to trust myself and give myself a good kick in the behind,” he confides, with an air of both amusement and thought.
However, he has everything he needs to successfully cook this shepherd’s pie at home, all by himself. As he has everything he needs to make an appointment with his doctor. But he feels less anxious doing these small everyday gestures that seem very mundane for many of us when he has his caregiver with him.
At Open Horizons, it is the theory of small steps that always prevails. Through various tasks, work and workshops, we move forward with the autistic person, at their own pace. Sometimes in the kitchen, other times in manual work or in sorting workshops, we give her, as much as she can receive them, the tools to go a little further. We validate the person in what they experience. And above all, above all, we treat her like an adult.
Because an autistic person is so much more than their diagnosis. She has riches, abilities, dreams and goals. And like all adults, she must also learn to respect the limits of others, to develop social skills and to understand that there are consequences to our actions, that we have to face the music sometimes.
Maude Paquette-Martin, general director of Open Horizons, Wapiti Melaçon-Gignac and Violaine Héon, general director of the Regroupement d’organisms en DI/TSA de la Mauricie. (Stéphane Lessard/Le Nouvelliste)
“The spectrum of autism is so broad that it sometimes becomes difficult for the population to understand its nuances. So we will often fall into generalities, and this results in prejudices, both positive and negative,” mentions Maude Paquette-Martin, director of the community organization.
Positive prejudices, like this man who witnessed a verbal argument between Wapiti and another lady on a bus, and who tried to intervene. “Poor thing,” he suggested to his caregiver. But no, at 40, he is not small, he was made to understand. He’s an adult, and he’s learning like everyone else to cope with life.
Wapiti is one of the many faces of autism in Mauricie. As part of Autism Month, the Mauricie Group of ID/ASD Organizations launched the “I am more than autistic” campaign. Like the Open Horizons team, the fifteen or so organizations that the Regroupement represents try every day to unlock the full potential behind each of them. To see the nugget of gold that shines in their eyes.
“Everyone carries the mission of making them autonomous as much as possible. An autistic person is so much more than their diagnosis. Often, these people have experienced more pitfalls in school and during adolescence through the gaze and judgment of others. They still sometimes feel this look when they are adults. But like everyone else, they are people who seek to flourish in life,” considers Violaine Héon, general director of the Regroupement d’organisms en DI/TSA de la Mauricie.
And although the primary mission is to focus on adults, the mission of these organizations necessarily affects families and loved ones, for whom love remains unconditional, but who also need respite, and above all some peace of mind.
“This is THE big worry for many families. Once the autistic person turns 21, one wonders what will happen next. This is where the necessary work of community organizations comes in.”
— Violaine Héon, general director of the Mauricie Group of DI/TSA organizations.
“In the eyes of parents, what we often see is this pride. To see them achieve goals that we never thought they could achieve, or to see them succeed where we always feared that they could experience failure. It’s natural for parents to want to protect their child, and this also translates for parents of people living on the autism spectrum,” adds Maude Paquette-Martin.
This tight network with the stakeholders, but also with users among themselves, translates every day into this springboard which propels them upwards. A mission which is nevertheless accomplished by running after money every day, with funding which we always hope will be increased.
Through this funding, we achieve small miracles on a daily basis that promote staying at home and avoid placement in CHSLDs at almost $100,000 of public money per person per year.
“We are all part of the solution, and we do it very well. I am lucky to count on an extraordinary team, dedicated, loving, curious. However, the race for financing always leads to administrative burden. I too would love to be able to offer my team the same conditions as in the health network, especially when we know how essential our services are to our users.”
— Maude Paquette-Martin
I tried to make Wapiti promise that he would finally cook this shepherd’s pie, alone at home, without anyone’s help. He promised it… without telling me a date. Taking small steps, one pat on the back at a time, I know for a fact that he will get there. After all, he has all the tools on hand to achieve this.
