MÉCONNAISSABLE: Unrecognizable

Harsh and sensitive all at once, MÉCONNAISSABLE casts light on the loneliness of a child with an unconventional brain and her need to be herself

Struggling with a yearning for authenticity she has always been denied, an autistic child runs away far from home and squats at a campground all summer long. Because she doesn't fit into the traditional mould of what people expect a girl to look like, she decides to live as a boy, and because her words hurt others, she retreats into silence. This is a time for her to reflect and explore who she could be if she were able to move beyond the artificial limits others put on her. Through these pages, this hypersensitive, gifted and curious narrator gives us an insight into her life, her struggle and her perception of the world and the beings she refers to as humans.

EXCERPT
I turn my feet to face the door, making sure they line up symmetrically with the floor tiles. It's as if I'm wasting a little time now so I won't feel bad for quite so long. I'd call that an investment. I pull my sleeve down over my hand to turn the knob without touching it, otherwise the texture would take away too much air between my skin and the object and there wouldn't be enough of a safety margin to stop me fusing with the light-the-water-in-my-hands texture of the metal still dripping with stuck-on vapour. Then I use my fingers to apply similar pressure on my other palm through the fabric to keep things balanced.

Valérie Jessica Laporte is an autistic, 42-year-old mother of three. Through her work as a photographer and
designer, she explores her fascination for everyday objects.