The Mutual Aid Group for Autistic People (GEMA) plays an essential role in raising awareness and understanding of autistic people. Despite obstacles that still persist, this association is a beacon of hope for a more inclusive society.
Breaking free from social isolation, which sets in quite quickly from childhood, is essential for autistic people. The Mutual Aid Group (GEM), dedicated to people with autism spectrum disorder, aims to provide a safe and caring space.
The specificity of the GEM of Alpes-Maritimes is that there are very few associations run autonomously by autistic people in France. The goal of the president, Coline Gil, and vice-president, Benjamin Tabet-Costa, is to encourage the autonomy of autistic people. The activities allow them to develop their skills and contribute to their well-being.
GEMA 06 brings together 120 registered members, aged 16 to 75 years old. The information and awareness-raising missions of this association are now a matter of public concern. “People are reduced to being autistic, they are not perceived as citizens like any others,” said Alexis Leclaire, one of the association’s coordinators.
For members of this Nice-based association, the more autistic people are visible and heard, the more likely society will evolve.
Self-management full of promise
GEMA 06 is an association run by autistic people for autistic people. Alexis Leclaire and Emma Denis support members on a daily basis. For nearly twenty years, the specially trained educator has worked alongside autistic people: “I start from what people tell me so I can help them. “
This association has become a place of self-determination allowing members to gradually regain confidence in themselves. “We understood that we were not incompetent and that we are capable of acquiring knowledge and skills,” explained the association’s vice-president.
The GEM fights daily against the scourge of social isolation threatening autistic people. “After a few months, we see them regain confidence in themselves, even if they just find their smile again. They learn to implement their way of thinking and to understand their emotions,” said Emma Denis. This association represents the opportunity for them to be able to manage their adult life alongside people who support them, “present to advise us but to whom we are not chained,” added the vice-president.
The management method of this association teaches the importance of placing the people concerned at the center of the decision-making process. “The best way to meet the needs of autistic people is to hear what they have to tell us. We are fortunate to have people who can explain how they function to help us improve our professional practices,” explained Alexis L.
This autonomy also brings a more accurate vision of autistic people, who have long suffered from a pathologizing image. “I see the consequences of all the injustices that autistic people experience daily, whether it’s harassment, rejection or infantilization,” said the specialized educator.
The GEM supports members in a spirit of solidarity and mutual aid. “We all have more or less skills and we share them among ourselves,” said the association’s vice-president. By way of examples, one member provides help with administrative procedures, while another offers art therapy. “Thanks to her training, she is able to suggest different media and various themes to us, which allows us to have access to these forms of expression,” explained Benjamin Tabet-Costa.
An essential awareness pole
Autistic people still face many obstacles, particularly those related to perceptions that people may have. “Fictional representations bring depictions of autistic people that today do more harm than good. In newspapers, they mainly show the sensationalist side of autism, that is to say the severe disability side, using words that can be demeaning,” said Benjamin Tabet-Costa. Emma Denis pointed out “the lack of integration.”
Lack of information impairs the well-being of autistic people. Prejudices label them and prevent them from feeling like full citizens. “We are human, we have emotions, we are capable of thinking, of feeling, and even if we take different paths we manage to understand what is happening around us,” clarified the vice-president.
The Nice-based association has managed to distinguish itself in its information and awareness-raising mission. Between activities, games, immersive workshops and conferences, the GEM provides tools for understanding to professionals and the general public. “In these workshops, we make participants experience the sensory situations of autistic people,” mentioned Alexis Leclaire. For members of this association, awareness-raising is paramount. “We cannot understand what it is to be autistic without experiencing it,” added Benjamin Tabet-Costa.
The GEM works extensively with institutions with which partnerships are created, such as the APREH (Association for the Rehabilitation and Flourishing of People with Disabilities), the CRA (Autism Resource Center), the city of Nice and many others. “Nice is one of the rare cities in France where there are outright five days of autism awareness and this will be maintained in 2027,” specified Alexis Leclaire.
The role of the association in Nice’s local life promises to expand at the national level. Next November, the GEMA 06 association will be invited to present their awareness-raising tools to the ministerial delegation on autism of the Government. For Alexis Leclaire, this invitation is indicative of a perhaps more peaceful future for autistic people.
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