Contribution to the creation of a reception center providing medical care to autistic adults, France

The Air Liquide Foundation is accompanying the creation of a reception center providing medical care for autistic adults by financing the therapeutic workshop “men and donkeys”.

The Sauge (Solidarité, Autisme, Gestion – “solidarity, autism, management”) association is involved in increasing comprehension of and taking in charge autism and other serious behavioral problems. Noting the lack of appropriate structures in France, Sauge initiated a project on creating a reception center providing medical care for autistic adults in the commune Les Molières, in the Paris region.

This center, which will welcome over 20 permanent residents, will be located near a farm where the boarders can work. The goal is to permit these autistic young adults to take part in active life. In this center, they can obtain their independence and build a life apart from their parents’ home. The project is structured in such a way that these people, general reduced to modest activities designed to keep them occupied, can access real work, acquire dignity and make progress in their relationships with others.

The Air Liquide Foundation is particularly involved in supporting the therapeutic project “men and donkeys”. Studies show that activities involving animals help autistic people to escape from their isolation. The Foundation is going to finance the creation and equipping of the “men and donkeys” workshop notably by taking part in the purchase of several donkeys.