As part of the European Union project aimed at caregivers of people with disabilities, we visited several centers created for individuals with autism by the French association Sesame Autisme Occitanie Est – SAOE.

The association is extraordinary, and the people who create and work there have accomplished their mission of providing individuals with autism dignified living conditions and supporting their caregivers in an incredible way. However, this was made possible not only through the immense work and dedication of those involved in the Association but also thanks to the system in place in France.

In tasks related to providing assistance and care to people with disabilities, France places a fundamental emphasis on integrating disabled individuals into society and enabling them to lead as active lives as possible by offering them a maximally diversified support system.

This support ensures the respect of basic rights, such as the right to education, the right to work, fair remuneration for work, dignified compensatory benefits, and the right to care when the psychophysical or health condition requires it.

Equalizing opportunities is a fundamental task that every country and territorial unit should fulfill. This task is not easy, but it is necessary and achievable. It simply requires defining the needs and planning how to address them. In France, this task is carried out through targeted institutions that ensure dignified living conditions for people with disabilities in various ways. Institutions are established and function to support disabled individuals in their homes, enabling them to fully participate in social life. Specialized care centers operate (centers providing round-the-clock care, temporary care, and occasional care). There are centers where disabled individuals work and centers that provide constant medical care.

The French system appears coherent and complete. How was this achieved? Where should we start to make various forms of support available for people with disabilities in Poland, particularly for individuals with autism?

First and foremost, it must not be forgotten that the disabled person should be at the center of every action, and their needs should be addressed.

To this end, it is essential to define and articulate these needs and then specify the perspective for their realization. It is also necessary to verify how individual institutions fulfill their tasks. French law requires each department, every five years, to define the current needs of disabled individuals and specify how to meet them. Additionally, to improve the services provided by institutions, each of them undergoes evaluation once every five years. A system for coordinating the tasks of the state and the department has also been established, and clear systems for financing institutions are in place. All this allows finding the most suitable place in society for each individual.

This place could be an individual home where several adult individuals with autism live permanently, always able to rely on a caregiver’s support; a small center with apartments for disabled individuals; a center where they receive full care, including medical care, while each person has their own space, just for them (a room with a bathroom, possibly with a mini kitchen). It could also be a workplace adapted to the disabilities of the individual (a farm, a production plant, a hotel…). It could also be a place for occasional meetings with a safe space around. Such spaces were created by Sesame Autisme Occitanie Est.

As a Foundation, we want to raise broad awareness that it is necessary to undertake the effort to create such places, but we also want to help create them. However, this requires the support of the state and municipalities, which begins with understanding the needs of disabled individuals and then creating or assisting in creating places that provide this support and defining clear ways to finance them.