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Book only available in French

It all came very fast since spring 2014. Ron Suskind, the famous journalist, publishes on the first of April Life, animated. Within, he describes “his met” with his autistic son Owen thanks to Disney world. This is the way Owen came out from his withdrawal, he started to speak and grow his abilities. Ron Suskind shows precisely how supportive can be a family for autistic creations. That’s what he rightly calls Affinity therapy.

Many are the parents who bet – often against expert’s advice – on their autistics children’s self-therapeutic abilities, welcoming their affinities whatever they may be. Many are the autistic persons who testify how fundamental the support of their abilities is, as well as the support of their loved ones. As for the searcher, the professional, and the psychoanalyst it is a question of learning from the consequences of the Affinity therapy, not only listening to the autistic persons, but also listening to their parent’s knowledge considering how precious are their transmissions about findings and creations of each and everyone in the aim of creating bounds.

The massive feedback in the American and British medias of Ron Suskind’s work compels nowadays searchers and specialists all over the world to a radical modification on the consideration of obsessions and fixations, passions or interests in the treatment of autisms, mainly castigated or regarded as useless fads, that should be eradicated. This publication raises the question of the attention given to the affinities in various approaches of autism, introduces the discussion of the diagnostic, etiology and determinism of autism, and more broadly the limits encountered by the science in the definition of autism.

The main objective of this work – a political and clinical objective – is to show the interest of Affinity therapy, to demonstrate the litter of it, and its dealings with the treatment of autism implemented in the “pratiques à plusieurs” oriented with the psychoanalytic discourse.

In France and Europe, many institutions welcoming autistics take into account  in their daily practice, the so called autistic object, the affinity (as discreet as it can be), as an elected object, an elective affinity of the autistic mind, not as an obstacle. These institutions support the contrivances of every autistic person, bringing these creations to openness to the outside world, social link and learning. This work defines principles and the logic of such a practice and displays how institutions offer “a custom-made mix” of the medical educational and learning triptych.

So this book features in a precise way how to support affinities, and subjective creations in autism treatment: taking into account the “Real” they endured and defenses they elaborate to cope with it.

Myriam Perrin, the publication’s managing editor, is Senior lecturer at the University Rennes 2 in psychopathology and analytical clinic, EA4050, Autism Reasearch Group and Adult psychopathology manager. She is psychoanalyst, member of École de la Cause Freudienne (ECF) and of the World Association Of Psychoanalysis (WAPOL).

Frontpage image: « Magic touch », designed by par Maxime Annequin, Charles Cullard and Romuald Isquierdo.

Translation: Annequin Maxime, Lefevre Célestine