This Thursday, July 6 marks the launch, from the Elysée Palace, of the fourth autism plan. The opportunity for associations and parents of children suffering from this disorder to speak out and be highlighted. For this, Meltem, a mother from Strasbourg, created the Facebook page “My name is Okan”. Okan is none other than her three-year-old son. In June 2016, he was diagnosed with “mild autism” and since then his parents have been looking for solutions to support him in the best possible way.
An intensive method
Between two appointments with the psychomotrician and the psychologist, Meltem did some research and discovered the association AEVE (Autisme espoir vers l’école) as well as the “3i” method (for “individual, intensive, interactive”) . If this accompaniment based on the game and the exchange is not recognized by the High Authority of Health for lack of research and studies on the subject, it has already convinced many families. “It’s a game method where you follow the child, you imitate him and it works for Okan. When I imitate him, he looks at me. He launches a car, I launch a car, he watches, he opens up to us, he accepts us a little in his world”, explains Meltem to France Blue Alsace.
The implementation of this method, however, requires time and investment: in a dedicated game room, the sessions are filmed before being analyzed by a psychologist. It also requires the intervention of many volunteers, in order to play six hours a day with the child. To set up the device necessary for the application of the “3i” method, Okan’s mother therefore launched an appeal on Facebook. Of the 40 volunteers sought, 18 people have already volunteered to play with Okan for 1h30 a week. Thanks to them, the little boy will be able to benefit from this support from August.
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