JE SUIS A L'EST

The first narrative from a French autistic who has accepted to open the doors to his inner world. An intense and moving story by a brilliant man.

Josef Shovanec's many appearances on television and his participation in international conferences on autism have inspired great interest, but he has always declined to tell the story of his life and the path he has taken in a book. Today, he has accepted our offer to do so, hoping, through this account, to defend the cause not only of the children, but also of men and women who, in his words, "live with autism". His is a story of the painful beginnings of a child who was often beaten up at recess, ignored later on by his classmates at Sciences Po, and considered to be mentally retarded by many he encountered in daily life. Beyond this discouraging facade, Josef reveals his true personality and allows us access to the mysterious life of the brain and its interactions with the environment. This fascinating descent into an unknown world also lets us discover our own brains, as «neurotypical» individuals who live and act in accordance with what is considered normal. Josef Shovanec was born in 1981, in the greater Paris area of emigrant parents from Czechoslovakia. After chaotic beginnings at school, Joseph passed his baccalaureate "C" (maths and science) with the honorable mention of "very good". Earning a degree from Sciences-Po, Paris, he continued his academic career at Langues O where he studied Hebrew, Sanskrit, Persian, Amharic, Azeri, and Ethiopian languages, adding to his perfect fluency in Czech, German, Finnish and the English he had learned earlier in school. At 19, the first psychiatrist he encountered pumped him full of pills, and he barely escaped psychiatric internment. This is when he began psychoanalysis. Diagnosed «autistic, with Asperger's syndrome», he discarded all treatments and began a slow ascension towards the world of "normal" people. Today, he continues his linguistic studies and gives conferences on autism. He holds a part-time position as an assistant to the Mayor of Paris's deputy in charge of the handicapped.