With the deconfinement approaching, with #RadioOuverte, Europe 1 has opened its antenna to parents more or less worried and who wonder how will happen next in the days of the coronavirus. Doctor Olivier Revol, Head of Child and Adolescent Psychopathology at the CHU de Lyon, and author of "I have a teenager but I care for myself", was invited to answer a few questions. Valérie, an auditor who lives in Morbihan, is the mother of two girls aged 16 and 17, the eldest being autistic.
"Changing landmarks is complicated for them"
Because of the confinement, the latter "was a small lion in a cage", testifies Valérie. "She didn't understand why we couldn't go for a walk anymore." According to Olivier Revol, children with ASD (autism spectrum disorder), "like this young girl, need to have benchmarks. The change of benchmarks is more complicated for them, while for the majority of adolescents it's simple".
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This is why moving from freedom to containment can be a problem ... and vice versa. "When a child has special needs, progressive deconfinement seems to me to be entirely judicious", explains the head of department of the CHU of Lyon.
A "progressive deconfinement"
This is what Valérie applied. "I decided to take her shopping with me one morning, so that she would take the temperature, that she would realize that the cashiers were wearing masks, that there were very few people, that the atmosphere was really sad and gloomy, "explains the mother. As a result, her daughter "became aware" of what was going on. "Now she doesn't want to come with me anymore. But she understands, and agrees to go out and walk. She calmed down because she realized on the ground what was going on, and that it was necessary take his troubles patiently".
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"Children who have autistic disorders are intelligent children, but who need to have a ritual, benchmarks that are fixed," recalls Olivier Revol. "Everything that is new is necessarily worrying for them. Going to take a dip, to see what is going on outside, will then allow them to return to the ocean of life with much more ease."