Autism in Charente-Maritime: “We are the forgotten ones, within a forgotten population”

Marie Bulle is autistic and perfectly integrated. Her three daughters have autism spectrum disorders or attention deficit disorder. The Charentaise-Maritime native describes her epic daily life in a book and gives her testimony in La Rochelle on June 17 and Saintes on June 19.

"We're not considered real autistic because we can be useful to society." This, according to Marie Bulle, is the burden of so-called functional autistic people, formerly known as Asperger's. This resident of La Chapelle-des-Pots, near Saintes, is stepping into the breach opened by the film "Differente," by Lou Doillon, released on June 11. The heroine, Katia, has a professional, social, and romantic life. She was diagnosed with autism late in life. Like Marie Bulle, who will share her testimony during screenings in La Rochelle (Tuesday, June 17 at the Dragon cinema) and Saintes (Thursday, June 19 at 8:30 p.m. at Atlantic-Ciné).

"We are the great forgotten of history, within a forgotten population," insists Marie Bulle, her pen name. She self-published a collection, "My Children Are Annoying," in which she humorously describes the upheavals of daily life and the wanderings of diagnosis for her and her three daughters. The 48-year-old mother recounts how a psychiatrist had decreed that she could not be autistic since she had a life with a partner, children, a job, friends, and she drove.

Originally from Charente-Maritime, Marie Bulle pursued a solid university education and worked in London, Germany, and Luxembourg. In 2014, she collapsed and returned to settle in Charente-Maritime. "I needed to understand where this burnout came from. In books, I found markers of autism spectrum disorders that corresponded to me: hypersensitivity, difficulty understanding social relationships, emotional hypersensitivity..."

She's seeing multiple appointments for two of her daughters, who are both suffering from school phobia at the same time. "It's an obstacle course. The public system is good for boys with cognitive and behavioral delays, but it has more trouble with girls. They're more likely to hide it." In 2020, the lockdown opened a magical window. "My children could learn at their own pace. When it came to going back to school, it was hell."

The eldest, nicknamed Enigma, born in 2005, never wanted to be diagnosed, even though she has attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Toutemimi, the youngest, born in 2008, has autism spectrum disorder (ASD). An example? "For fourteen years, she only ate beige foods. The only touch of color was ketchup." The youngest, Tètenlère, has ADHD, ASD, dyspraxia, and oppositional defiant disorder. "From the age of one and a half, she ran away all the time. We had to put locks on everything. Now it's the complete opposite; she's afraid of almost everything."

"Are these children annoying?" No, "autistic," the book corrects, lovingly describing how we learn to adapt. "This involves living in a very calm place, a 'slow life,' a quiet life. We stop being over-solicited, we refuse invitations. We are forced to cut ourselves off socially..."

This doesn't stop her daughters from doing well at school, thanks to adjustments. "To take the French baccalaureate, Toutemimi had 13 adjustments: a room with a small number of students, an adult to re-explain the instructions... She was the first in Charente-Maritime to benefit from a "matrix," a sheet that explains each step of the exam so that the young autistic girl doesn't forget anything. It's a great step forward."

"At the French baccalaureate, my daughter was the first in Charente-Maritime to benefit from a "matrix", a sheet which explains each stage of the exam."

Marie Bulle hopes to find a publisher for her book, which aims to create connections. She has also launched "Les tisanes des mamans," a videoconference discussion session on Tuesday evenings from 9:30 p.m. to 11 p.m. "Come, anyone? Just send me an email to register. We have mothers concerned about neurodiversity, either for their children, for themselves, or for both. There's a lot of isolation."

The Saintaise woman wants to send a message. "Get your daughters diagnosed. Undiagnosed autistic girls have an 80% eating disorder risk, a 13 times higher risk of suicide than average, compared to seven times higher for autistic boys. Nine out of ten autistic women will experience at least one sexual assault. This gives us reason to be a little worried about our daughters..."

Contact, [email protected], internet, www.atelieraufonddujardin.fr